Get to Know Downtown Grand Rapids on a Scavenger Hunt

One of the best ways to get to know a city is by visiting its most iconic landmarks. Exploring sites a destination holds dear tells you a lot about local history, culture and values. Make the discovery process fun for visitors and they’ll learn while having a grand old time.

Which brings us to the Grand Rapids Scavenger Hunt. Developed in response to meeting planner and attendee requests, it’s a mobile, game-based way to experience our downtown convention neighborhood. The Hunt invites participants to find 11 downtown landmarks, take playful quizzes and uncover hidden stories that highlight the significance of each site. It’s an opportunity to dust off your detective skills and embark on an interactive adventure within an easy stroll of our convention center and hotels.

How it Works

Get the Grand Rapids Scavenger Hunt pass to start your adventure. Delivered to your smartphone by email or text – so you don’t have to download anything – the pass includes maps to all 11 locations. Make sure your location settings are turned on to answer the check-in quiz when you arrive at each site. The program registers your check-in when you’ve successfully completed a quiz and you can move on to the next location.

Check in to all 11 locations and you’ll be entered into a quarterly drawing for Grand Rapids hotel stays, gift cards, attraction passes and other cool prizes. While anyone can get the pass and play the game, please note that only registered meeting attendees are eligible for the prize giveaway. Convention groups can add to the fun by offering their own rewards!

Groups can use the GR Scavenger Hunt to engage attendees, build camaraderie and promote collaboration. It can also be a great team-building exercise for breakout sessions. Six of the 11 sites have or are meeting spaces, so you can incorporate the Hunt into your off-site meeting plans. Ask our Grand Response™ convention services team to help you brainstorm and implement ideas.

How Long it Takes

The Grand Rapids Scavenger Hunt is designed to take about an hour to complete. Just be advised that you’ll be navigating through a downtown with 300+ restaurants, shops, cultural attractions and entertainment venues within a 10-minute walk, many just steps from Hunt locations – so you may get distracted on your quest. No problem, the next site will be waiting for you after you finish your meal, brewery visit, shopping spree, museum stop, mural tour, riverwalk stroll or festival hang-out. You can enjoy this adventure at your own pace. Unless, of course, you’re involved in a friendly competition with fellow attendees!

What You’ll See

SPOILER ALERT: We’re about to unveil the 11 sites included in the Grand Rapids Scavenger Hunt. If you’d rather encounter them for the first time through the digital pass, navigate away from this page with all due haste.

If you’re still with us, here’s a brief look at the landmarks we included and why:

1. Amway Grand Plaza, Curio Collection by Hilton. The city’s oldest, largest and most luxurious hotel traces its origins back to 1913.
2. Lyon Square. Named after Lucius Lyon, a founding father of Grand Rapids, this public gathering space was recently reimagined as a year-round destination.
3. Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. This entertaining tribute to the life and times of a Grand Rapids legend is also the burial site of the President & First Lady Betty Ford.
4. Spirit of Solidarity Monument. A nod to Grand Rapids’ past as the Furniture Capital of the World, this sculpture commemorates the furniture worker’s strike of 1911.
5. Grand Rapids Public Museum. One of America’s oldest history museums contains three floors of fascinating exhibits, a working antique carousel and a planetarium.
6. The Blue Bridge. Constructed in 1892 as a railroad crossing over the Grand River, this aqua-hued pedestrian bridge is one of the city’s most popular selfie spots.
7. Raining Wisdom Mural. This massive, colorful mural is a past winner of ArtPrize, the annual Grand Rapids competition that has become the world’s most attended public art event.
8. Rosa Parks Circle. Named one of the Top 5 Great Public Spaces in America in 2017, this community space was designed by world-renowned architect and sculptor Maya Lin.
9. Lyman Parks Sculpture. Part of the city’s Community Legends sculpture series, this bronze piece honors the first African American mayor of Grand Rapids, elected in 1971.
10. La Grande Vitesse. This mammoth Alexander Calder sculpture was America’s first publicly funded art installation (1969) and is an enduring symbol of the city’s creative spirit.
11. JW Marriott Grand Rapids. Home to Steel Water, a 33-ft. tall sculpture celebrating Grand Rapids’ status as the first city in the world to add fluoride to its water supply, in 1945.

Visiting locations in the order presented above (and in the digital pass) is the most efficient and time-effective route to complete the Scavenger Hunt. But you can feel free to start wherever you like. Just be sure to take the quiz at each location to complete your check-in and enter the prize giveaway. We’ll notify you by email if you’re a winner!