SmartHunts® – Best Scavenger Hunt in Chicago

Chicago offers many landmarks and a diverse culture

SmartHunts® scavenger hunt in Chicago is an experience that will have your team buzzing with excitement. Blending fun, exploration, and corporate teambuilding, SmartHunts can customize your event to include much of what Chicago has to offer, including world-class architectural, famous museums, unique food & drink, as well as highlighting the features of Chicago mix of modern and historic culture. SmartHunts takes your team on a scavenger hunt through this great city where they can discover their own Chicago style.
Whether your team is local to the area, or visiting from out-of-town, the SmartHunts team can create a fresh experience for your group with a fun scavenger hunt. SmartHunts offers a unique corporate adventure tailored just for you and can take your group on any combination of Chicago’s great neighborhoods & landmarks, including:

1. Navy Pier

   The navy Pier is a great place for a scavenger hunt in Chicago. Constructed in 1916 and originally called the Municipal Pier, Navy Pier covers 55 acres and stretches out 3300 feet into Lake Michigan along the Chicago shoreline.

   If you enter the pier through Polk Bros Park, be sure to check out the plaza fountain with its dancing water streams, or take a ride on the Centennial Wheel, a 200-foot-tall Ferris wheel that offers unparalleled views of the city and surrounding areas. If heights aren’t your thing the Navy Pier Observation Deck proffers exceptional ground floor vistas.

   Summertime fun includes twice weekly fireworks displays, free concerts, outdoor movies, art exhibitions, parks, and gardens.

   You’ll also find an abundant selection of shops, restaurants, taverns, bakeries and sitting atop Navy Pier’s Festival Hall, the largest rooftop bar in the country.

   Other popular destinations include the interactive Chicago Children’s Museum, the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and a statue of Bob Newhart.
2. Millennium Park
   Millennium Park is a 24-acre public park located within The Loop, adjacent to Grant Park and Maggie Daley Park and a great place for a scavenger hunt.

   The famous Cloud Gate aka “The Bean” welcomes you into the park at the Randolph Street side. This 110-ton polished stainless-steel sculpture measuring 66’ long, 42’ wide and 33’ high, was created by Anish Kapoor and gifted to the city by AT&T.

   The interactive Crown Fountain at the south end of the park was designed by Jaume Plensa and features a wading pool and 50’ glass towers at each end.

   The 3.5-acre Lurie Garden, located just east of Crown Fountain, is of naturalistic design and a refuge for birds and wildlife and a perfect spot to take a break.

   The Jay Pritzker Pavilion, designed by Frank Gehry, is as much a piece of art as it is a performance venue. It can seat 11,000 and hosts such annual events as The Chicago Blues and Jazz festivals, the World Music festival, and many free events as well.

   The BP Bridge, also designed by Frank Gehry, is a stunning stainless steel pedestrian bridge connecting Millennium Park to Maggie Daley Park.

   Millennium Park also features numerous public art displays, check out the Boeing Galleries, as well as green spaces and gardens.
3. Grant Park
   Grant Park is a great place for scavenger hunt. This public park located inside The Loop between the business district and Lake Michigan. Considered Chicago’s front yard, this 300-acre cultural hub is a must visit.

   Built in 1927, Buckingham Fountain is one of the largest in the world and is reminiscent of a fountain at the Palace of Versailles. Be sure to catch one of the 20-minute displays performed hourly by this magnificent creation.

   The Art Institute of Chicago is one of the largest art museums in the country and boasts an extensive collection of impressionist, post-impressionist and modern art and is home to the Fountain of the Great Lakes.

   20-acre Maggie Daley Park is located in the north end of Grant Park next to Millennium Park and features a playground, Skating Ribbon, a 3 acre Play Garden, rock climbing, picnic areas, biking trails and more.

   Grant Park is also home to performance venues, gardens, a skate park, dog parks, sports fields and harbor facilities. Catch an outdoor movie or concert, take a walk along the Lakefront Trail, and do check out the numerous spectacular sculptures scattered throughout. It’s also the home of Lollapalooza and The Taste of Chicago.
4. The Loop
   The Loop is a section of Chicago bounded by Lake Michigan to the east, Roosevelt Road to the south and the Chicago River to the north and west. It encompasses the downtown business district as well as Grant, Millennium and Maggie Daley Parks.

   It is absolutely loaded with modern and historical architecture, museums, theaters, restaurants, hotels, and shopping.

   These are just a few of the best sights in The Loop:

   Chicago Cultural Center
   Chicago Board of Trade Building
   Willis Tower Skydeck
   Cloud Gate
   Aqua Tower
   Calder’s Flamingo – Federal Plaza
   Picasso Statue – Daley Plaza
   American Writers Museum
   The Chicago Theater
   The Civic Opera House
   Harold Washington Library Center

   And there’s so much more…
5. River North
   Bordering the north side of Loop and the west side of Magnificent Mile, River North was initially an early 20th century industrial district called Smokey Hollow, then a warehouse district, and when its port was relocated, it became an abandoned district.

   River North was the home of Little Sicily and while many of the residents have moved to outlying areas the majestic Assumption Catholic Church on Illinois Street remains.

   In the 1970s, River North experienced a rebirth similar to many other former industrial areas of the U.S. and Chicago. Warehouses were repurposed into lofts, artist studios, restaurants, nightclubs and shops.

   Today it is one of the hottest areas in Chicago for dining and nightlife, but most importantly is its abundance of art galleries, second only to Manhattan.
6. Magnificent Mile
   Chicago’s leading commercial district, Magnificent Mile is 13 blocks of Michigan Street running north/south from East Oak Street to the Chicago River.

   Shopping? Over 400 stores, shops, boutiques and outlets of all sizes and styles, plus 3 significant shopping centers, each catering to a particular clientele.

   Dining? Over 250 restaurants to choose from, seriously, how does one choose! Quick bites to fine dining. You name it, they’ve got it.

   Imbibing? Cocktail Lounges, Brew Pubs, Wineries and Taverns. Rooftop, Piano, Champagne, Martini and Tiki Bars.

   Sightseeing? Check out the terra-cotta faced Wrigley Building of Spanish Colonial & French Renaissance styles completed in 1925, the Gothic Revival styled Chicago Water Tower completed in 1869, the Tribune Tower, also Gothic Revival, completed in 1925 and the 100 floor John Hancock Building and Observation Deck.
7. Museum Campus
   Museum Campus is a great place for an adventure hunt. This 57-acre park by the lake, was created in 1998 and encompasses 5 notable Chicago institutions.

   Field Museum, one of the largest natural history museums in the world, was built at this location in 1905 and named for its original benefactor Marshall Field. The department store magnate felt compelled to preserve and display artifacts presented at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition. Field Museum has since expanded to dinosaurs, fossils, rare gems, an Egyptian Tomb, complete with mummies, a library of over 250,000 books, photos, and writings, permanent and traveling exhibitions, educational and interactive programs and much more.

   Shedd Aquarium, a gift from John G Shedd, who succeeded Marshall Fields upon his death, opened in 1930, is a National Historical Landmark and is dedicated to conservation, research, and education. This 450,000 square foot marble edifice has 4 levels, houses over 30,000 sea creatures of 1,500 species, including sharks, beluga whales, dolphins, penguins, birds, snakes, and amphibians to name a few. There’s an underwater gallery, Caribbean and Philippine coral reefs, a theater for a 4-D underwater experience and you can pet a stingray!

   Adler Planetarium, a gift from Max Adler, a Sears Roebuck executive, also opened in 1930, is a National Historical Landmark and was the first planetarium built in the US. Check out a Sky Show in one of the Dome Theaters, observe planets and galaxies in ultra-high resolution, play with interactive exhibits, visit the Doane Observatory or Space Visualization Lab. Absolutely take a stroll on the Skyline Walk for an exceptional view of the city’s skyline.

   Soldier Field Football Stadium is the home to Da Bears.

   McCormick Place, the largest convention center in the country.
8. Fulton Market
   Located in the center of West Loop, this former meatpacking, industrial warehouse district has since been reimagined into one of the trendiest and liveliest areas of the city.

   The warehouses have been repurposed into countless hip restaurants and bars, as well as cozy hotels, cool shops, breweries, cafes, and music venues.

   The 50,000 square foot Time Out Market alone hosts 18 eateries and a rooftop terrace.

   Then there’s Restaurant Row on W. Randolph Street. Everything from ice cream and sandwich shops to the highest end restaurants and cocktail bars. Foodie heaven!
9. West Loop
   Chicago’s West Loop runs from Grand Avenue on the north side to I-290 on the south, Ogden on the west side to the Chicago River on the east, and there’s no shortage of things to eat, see and do, but mostly eat. It’s a foodie’s paradise!

   Contained within is Fulton Market, a former meatpacking and industrial district, that has been revitalized into high end boutiques, cozy upscale hotels, B&Bs and warehouses turned restaurants. It is also home to the famous Restaurant Row on W. Randolph Street.

   MetraMarket to the east is where one can sample food from a variety of specialty food vendors and restaurants, shop for fresh produce and baked goods or relax in a pub.

   Head south and behold the recently renovated magnificence of the 1925 Beaux Arts style Union Station or west to Greektown’s National Hellenic Museum and traditional Greek restaurants, bakeries, and delis.

   Continue to the immersive and interactive WNDR Museum or up to the Kavi Gupta Gallery, famous for displaying the works of emerging artists.

During your SmartHunts® experience, you’ll see many of Chicago’s iconic points of interest: Willis Tower, Harry Caray’s, Billy Goat Tavern, Wrigley Building, Cloud Gate (also referred to as “The Bean” by locals), DuSable Bridge, Chicago Riverwalk, BP Pedestrian Bridge, the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Skyline, and many more!