Does anyone have an idea on how one might go about locating sprinkler valves in the ground if the wire has been cut? I can't get energy to the solenoid to use the normal method.

metal detector?

Fix the wire and find it. You can find them with metal detectors but you will need to fix wire anyway. I have a cheap Amazon buried wire locator works fairly well for up to a hundred feet or so buried 6-8 in deep. Can rent real sprinkler tracer but renting was similar price to locator. Im in bcs if want to try mine
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01GDZLZOU?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

UmustBKidding said:

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Fix the wire and find it. You can find them with metal detectors but you will need to fix wire anyway. I have a cheap Amazon buried wire locator works fairly well for up to a hundred feet or so buried 6-8 in deep. Can rent real sprinkler tracer but renting was similar price to locator. Im in bcs if want to try mine
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01GDZLZOU?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

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This sounds exactly like what I need. Thank you. I'm not in CS until the MSU game, so I will just pick up my own.

If you don't mind working in the gray area and being a bit less than scrupulous, do what I did when in the spring season all the sprinkler service companies around our neighborhood were so slammed up booked that everyone I called either said "No", never called back or told me it would be 1-2 month wait time.

Buy this kit off Amazon, hook it up per the instructions and take the pole and headphones and walk around your yard, tone them out (find them), dig them up/uncover them and then return that bad boy within 30 days.
Sprinkler valve box locator


Or there's always the option to take a hefty loss reselling it. Or start your own sprinkler services side hustle!

I used this same product and it worked well.

Funny story, I have 16 zones and had a valve stuck open that I couldn't find, so bought this thing. I found 13/16 valves with it, but of course not the one stuck open. I had a general idea of where it was so started digging and along the wire until I came to the valve but ended up doing too much digging and stopped. Hired a guy to come find them who couldn't find the last 3 either. He just started stabbing the ground with his shovel near the area I told him I thought it was and about 5 stabs in he hit the valve cover, and there were the remaining 3. It ended up about a foot downstream of where I stopped digging. Then the valve magically started working again so I never even replaced the solenoid - it was all for nothing other than getting to add another gadget to the repertoire.