The Secrets of the Mission District Scavenger Hunt

Discover your Mission!

The Mission District boasts San Francisco’s best burritos, bars, and Saturday brunch ’n’ lounge. But peel back the neighborhood’s tasty top layer and you’ll uncover a wealth of hidden art, ghostly haunts, and sites of murmured local legend. On teams, you’ll follow clues through the area in search of answers to tricky, humorous questions about what you find. You’ll hit the hip (Dolores Park and the Valencia Street Corridor) and the historical (a zoo’s remains and the hydrant that saved the city), plus murals, gardens, and countless indescribables that make this district—and San Francisco—the coolest, quirkiest place in the country.

You might tackle such questions as…

• Find a fence that’s stalking eaters. What treat might make you chant, “This little piggy went to a tropical island”? Answer: Gracias Madre, a vegan restaurant with an iron fence featuring cornstalks, sells coconut bacon.
• On Albion, touch pimply water made of metal that has disappeared. Underwater, what can eating and drinking lead to? Answer: Singing and dancing, according to a quote on a history sign, below a map of vanished Dolores Lagoon.

We’ve left out a few clues that will guide you to the right spot to answer these questions correctly. You don’t need to know anything about the area to play or to win. You just need to keep your eyes open, use your wits, and collaborate with your team.