Scavenger hunt ideas for adults: clues and lists for a walk

How to run it for one or two people

Solo, give yourself a time limit, an hour for ten items is about right, and photograph each find so there's a record. With two people there are three good formats. Race: same list, split at a corner, meet back in forty minutes, most finds wins. Swap: each writes a list of eight for the other, from things you know exist nearby. Relay: one list, alternate items, and whoever finds theirs picks the direction for the next.

Scoring is optional but helps. One point per find, two for anything the other person doubts until they see the photo. Nothing on these lists requires entering private property, climbing anything or going anywhere you wouldn't walk in daylight anyway.

List one: numbers and letters

Everything here is written on something in public view. You'll need to look up and down more than usual.

1. A year earlier than 1950 Carved or fixed to a building: a cornerstone, a date over a door, a plaque. Older beats newer; keep looking after the first one.
2. A number above one hundred On a sign, a door, a utility box. Not a price and not a license plate.
3. The same digit three times A house number, a phone number on a van, a serial on a lamppost: 777, 1888, anything with a triple.
4. A signpost pointing three ways At least three destinations on one post. Multi-arm signposts in parks and old downtowns are the usual source.
5. A sign that says how far Any sign with a distance on it: a mile marker, a trail sign, a highway sign if you can see one from the sidewalk.
6. A street named after an animal Fox, Swan, Eagle, Bear. Find the sign, not just the name on a map.
7. Two street signs on one corner Both names on the same post or wall, photographed together.
8. One large letter A single letter big enough to fill the frame: shop signage, a parking level, a monogram on a gate.

List two: things that make no sense

Towns are full of objects that have outlived their purpose or never had one. Finding them is the most satisfying hunt there is.

1. A staircase that leads nowhere Steps up to a door that's been sealed, or down to a basement that's been filled.
2. A painted line that simply stops A road marking that ends mid-street, a lane that goes nowhere.
3. A lock on something that doesn't need one A padlock on an empty frame, a chain around a bollard.
4. A bike lock with no bike Still locked to a stand or railing, the bike long gone.
5. Two signs that contradict each other Parking allowed and parking forbidden on the same post is the classic. There are subtler ones.
6. A warning for something obvious Caution: steps. Watch your head. The more obvious, the better.
7. A machine without a job A payphone, a disused ticket machine, a cigarette dispenser nobody has used in years.
8. The ghost of a sign A lighter or darker rectangle on a wall where a sign used to hang.

List three: the old town

This one works best in the oldest part of wherever you are. Give it an hour and expect to miss two.

1. An iron ring in a wall Once used to tie horses. Look at knee height on old walls, near inns and former stables.
2. A sundial On a south-facing wall of a church, a school or a big house. Check whether it tells the right time.
3. A stone set at a corner A rounded or angled stone placed at the base of a building corner so carts wouldn't knock it. Older streets only.
4. A faded painted advertisement On a brick wall, high up, for a product that no longer exists.
5. A bell outdoors A church bell counts, but a smaller one, on a gate, a school, a boat, counts for more.
6. A worn step A stone step hollowed in the middle by a century of feet.
7. A letter slot in a wall An old metal mail slot set directly into stone or brick rather than a door.
8. The narrowest alley Narrow enough to touch both walls at once. Photograph it with your arms out.

Clues instead of lists

If plain lists feel too easy, use riddles. The answers below are vague on purpose; the fun is in deciding what counts. Agree on the answer before you start walking, or let the walk decide.

1. Somewhere near you stands something older than any building around it A tree, a stone, a wall fragment. Find it and photograph it.
2. Somewhere in that direction, somebody put up a marker, long ago A boundary stone, a survey marker, a milestone, a plaque.
3. Somewhere near you is a building made for being quiet in A chapel, a library, a reading room. Find it from outside.
4. Somewhere near you, something that once turned all day A mill, a waterwheel, a windmill, a turntable. Find out what it was.
5. Somewhere near you stands something built so it could be seen from far away A tower, a steeple, a water tank, a beacon.
6. Somewhere near you, something has mostly gone into the ground A rail, a foundation, a curbstone, an old track. What's still visible?

A hunt that renews itself

The weak point of a scavenger hunt is that it ends. You find the ten things, and the next weekend you need a new list. RLQuest is, among other things, a scavenger hunt that refills every morning: three to ten quests from a library of more than 2,700, chosen to fit your age, interests, the weather and the time you've got. Many read like the lists above: a year before 1950, a sign that contradicts another, something built to be seen from far away. The difference is that the app checks the photo, so a find is a find, and quests to real places, viewpoints, towers, ruins, old gates from OpenStreetMap, carry a first find if nobody in RLQuest has completed one there before.

It's free to download for iPhone and Android, with a Premium subscription that adds more quests per day. The three lists above are free to print and pocket.