Discover Portland Scavenger Hunt
Discover the city that keeps it weird with a one-of-a-kind scavenger hunt. Get lost in the city block of Powell's books, hop a food cart on every corner, find the white-stag sign and toast a flight of coffee at the original Stumptown. Portland Oregon is your playground for the day.
Stops on this hunt
The geo-tagged checkpoints that anchor this route. You can rearrange, replace or remove any stop after using the template.
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1
Pioneer Courthouse Square
Navigate to Pioneer Courthouse Square in downtown and check in on the brick steps.
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2
Powell's City of Books
Navigate to Powell's City of Books on Burnside and check in at the main entrance.
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3
Japanese Garden
Navigate to the Portland Japanese Garden in Washington Park and check in at the entrance.
Challenges (19)
Portland kick-off
The hunt begins! Find a typical Portland backdrop (a vintage neon sign, a coffee cart, a moss-covered wall, a flannel shirt on a stranger) and take a group photo with the whole team in shot.
Checkpoint: Pioneer Courthouse Square
Navigate to Pioneer Courthouse Square in downtown and check in on the brick steps.
Portland's living room shot
On Pioneer Courthouse Square: take a group photo where the team is spread across the brick amphitheatre, each person standing on a different step, like Portlandia's living room.
Trivia: Portland nickname
Portland Oregon has many nicknames. Which one refers to its garden heritage (two words)?
Answers: Rose City / rose city / City of Roses
Checkpoint: Powell's City of Books
Navigate to Powell's City of Books on Burnside and check in at the main entrance.
Powell's color room photo
Inside Powell's: the rooms are named by colours (Blue, Red, Gold, Rose). Find one and take a group photo where each person holds a book matching the colour of the room.
Weird title hunt
In Powell's, find the weirdest book title you can in five minutes. Take a photo of the team holding it up like a serious book club pick.
Trivia: Powell's superlative
Powell's City of Books in Portland is the world's largest independent what (one word)?
Answers: bookstore / Bookstore / bookshop / Bookshop
Food cart pod feast
Portland has more food cart pods than any city. Find one (5th Avenue, Hawthorne, Mississippi) and order four different cuisines for the team. Take a single photo of the spread laid out on a picnic table.
Voodoo Doughnut bite
Find Voodoo Doughnut (the original on SW 3rd Avenue) and take a group photo with the team biting into Voodoo Bubble or a Maple Bacon Bar. Pink box visible.
White Stag sign pose
The "Portland, Oregon, Old Town" white stag neon sign by the Burnside Bridge is the city's most iconic. Find a spot where the sign is in view and take a group photo where one person pretends to be the leaping stag.
Checkpoint: Japanese Garden
Navigate to the Portland Japanese Garden in Washington Park and check in at the entrance.
Garden serene pose
Inside or just outside the Japanese Garden: take a group photo where the team strikes meditative poses on a moss bank, a stone path or in front of a koi pond. The slower the breathing, the better.
Stumptown coffee toast
Stumptown is the Portland coffee roaster that launched the third-wave coffee scene. Find a cafe (Annex on Pine is the original), order pour-overs for the team and take a group toast photo. Single-origin discussion encouraged.
Bridge spot the bridges
Portland is the City of Bridges (twelve crossing the Willamette). Walk to the Burnside Bridge and take a group photo where as many different bridges as possible are visible behind you.
Local Portlander tip
Convince a local Portlander to share a tip about the city. Take a photo with your impromptu guide and remember the tip.
Keep Portland Weird
The "Keep Portland Weird" mural by the Burnside Bridge is the city motto. Find it (or any "Keep Portland Weird" sign or sticker) and take a group photo with team members striking deliberately weird poses.
Flannel and beard count
Walk a single Portland block and count how many flannel shirts or impressive beards you spot. Take a group photo of the team in the same block wearing whatever flannel you have (or imitating beards with hair).
Portland finale
Final challenge. Find a beautiful Portland spot and take an amazing closing group photo. Cheers from PDX!
Frequently asked questions
Four to five hours covers downtown (Powell's, Pioneer Courthouse Square) and the food cart pods at a relaxed pace. Washington Park (Japanese Garden, Pittock Mansion) adds an hour because of the climb up the west hills, easiest by the MAX light rail to Washington Park station plus a short Explorer shuttle.
No. Downtown Portland is walkable and the MAX light rail covers everything else, including Washington Park. The streetcar loops the central districts (Pearl, downtown, Northwest) for two dollars. Skip the car, parking in downtown Portland is expensive and slow.
Portland has 150 rainy days a year, mostly between November and April. The route handles light rain fine (Powell's is enormous, the food carts have covered seating, Pioneer Courthouse Square has shelter under the Starbucks). For the Japanese Garden, the moss and ferns actually look better in drizzle, so do not let rain cancel the hunt.
Yes. It is the largest independent bookstore in the world, taking up a full city block with colour-coded rooms. The challenge in this hunt asks for a photo in front of the entrance and a photo of a quirky-titled book, both quick. Allow ten extra minutes if anyone in the group is a reader, you will lose them.
Pioneer Courthouse Square in downtown is the natural starting point: it is Portland's living room, the MAX light rail and bus lines converge here and Powell's is a six-block walk northwest. Food cart pods, Voodoo Doughnut and the Park Blocks are all within ten minutes on foot.