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Scottsdale Celebrated Its Diamond Jubilee with an 87-Stop Digital Scavenger Hunt
The City of Scottsdale is marking its Diamond Jubilee with an 87-stop digital scavenger hunt built on Seeker XP, celebrating 75 years as an incorporated city. From Pinnacle Peak Trailhead to the Scottsdale Food Bank, participants earn points, unlock badges and collect commemorative stickers at landmarks, parks, community centers, and local businesses that collectively tell the story of what Scottsdale has become since 1951.
Overview
Scottsdale’s 75th Anniversary Scavenger Hunt sends participants across the full geography of the city, checking in at 87 locations organized into categories: Public Art, Historical Locations, Community Centers, City-owned Property, Local Businesses, and Parks and Preserves. Each stop carries a specific challenge: a selfie with a food bank volunteer, a photo posted to social media with #Scottsdale75, a purchase at the Scottsdale Community College bookstore, or a performance attended at the ASU Kerr Cultural Center. Stops earn 50, 75, or 150 points depending on the depth of engagement required, and participants who accumulate points unlock one of eight digital badges on their passport at set milestones. Separately, physical commemorative stickers featuring the same artwork can be collected by completing a designated challenge at any one of several participating locations tied to that sticker. The experience runs throughout 2026 as part of Celebrate 75, the city’s yearlong anniversary campaign.
At a Glance
- Activation: Scottsdale's 75th Anniversary Scavenger Hunt
- Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
- Timeline: 2026 (Celebrate 75 yearlong campaign)
- Audience: Scottsdale residents and visitors
- Use Cases: Cultural and Heritage Trail · Community Engagement · Visitor Experience
- Experience Type: QR Code Scavenger Hunt · Photo Challenge
- Industry: Destination Marketing
- Key Features: Digital Badges · QR Codes · Geolocation Check-ins · Photo Check-ins
- Platform: Seeker XP
About the City of Scottsdale
The City of Scottsdale serves approximately 240,000 residents across 185 square miles of the Sonoran Desert and draws millions of visitors each year to its nine walkable Old Town districts, world-class resorts, and the 30,000-acre McDowell Sonoran Preserve. Known internationally as “The West’s Most Western Town,” Scottsdale’s Tourism and Events team manages the city’s visitor engagement programming: from the weekly Old Town ArtWalk and the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction to Canal Convergence and Scottsdazzle. The city’s commitment to civic participation runs deep, reflected in its parks, neighborhood centers, and arts institutions that span the full geography from the desert preserve to downtown.
In 2026, Scottsdale marks its Diamond Jubilee: 75 years since incorporating as a city on June 25, 1951. The anniversary, branded as Celebrate 75, is a yearlong platform for civic pride and community storytelling, with anchor events running from Founder’s Day in February through Scottsdazzle in December. The team wanted a digital activation that could operate at the scale of the whole city, engage both longtime residents and first-time visitors, and make those 75 years feel participatory rather than passive.
That activation is the Scottsdale 75th Anniversary Scavenger Hunt, built on Seeker XP. Rather than concentrating everything in Old Town, the city maps 87 stops across its full geography: historic hospitals, desert trailheads, community gardens, skate parks, arts centers, and food banks. The ask is simple: show up and engage.
How It Works
Participants join the hunt at clickcity.scottsdaleaz.gov, where a map of all 87 locations loads across Scottsdale. Each stop has a specific challenge: snap a selfie with a food bank volunteer and show it to staff, post a photo at Eldorado Park Lake with #Scottsdale75, attend a live performance at the ASU Kerr Cultural Center, or visit the Indian Bend Wash Visitor Center and photograph the historic map inside.
Point values are calibrated to the depth of engagement each stop requires. Standard location visits earn 50 points; higher-value civic stops like Pinnacle Peak Trailhead and Scottsdale Community College earn 75 points; and the most immersive experiences, like attending a performance at ASU Kerr Cultural Center, earn 150 points. The range makes the hunt a genuine decision game: how far will you go, and which experiences are worth your afternoon?
Stop categories span the full breadth of the city:
- Public Art: landmark sculptures and installations across Scottsdale’s arts districts
- Historical Locations: sites like HonorHealth Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center (Scottsdale’s first hospital) and the Indian Bend Wash Visitor Center
- Parks & Preserves: Pinnacle Peak Trailhead, Eldorado Park Lake, and the Scottsdale Xeriscape Garden at Chaparral Park
- Community Centers: Paiute Neighborhood Center, Vista Del Camino Community Center, and more
- Local Businesses: purchases at the Scottsdale Community College bookstore, performances at ASU Kerr Cultural Center
Two separate reward systems run alongside the hunt. As participants accumulate points across any combination of activities, they unlock eight digital badges on their passport at set milestones: 100, 300, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 3,500, 5,000, and 6,200 points. These track overall participation, not any single location.
Separately, physical commemorative stickers featuring the same artwork are collected at specific locations by completing a designated challenge there. One sticker, for instance, unlocks across four possible stops: check out a book or sign up for a membership card at Mustang Library, ask for the sticker at the front desk during limited hours at the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce, bring in a donation at the Scottsdale Food Bank, or sign up for the newsletter at the Community Design Studio. Another sticker works the same way across a different cluster: sign up for a class, visit the gallery, or attend an event at the Community Design Studio or The Holland Center, take a photo with the interactive mural at the Museum of the West, or photograph a membership card at Club SAR Fitness Center. Participants only need to complete one challenge from each sticker’s location cluster to collect it, giving them real choice in how they earn it.
The #Scottsdale75 hashtag threads photo check-ins across social media, turning each completed stop into a public moment of community pride.
Activities
Photo Check-ins & Social Sharing
Participants complete photo challenges at each stop, sharing selfies and site photos to social media with #Scottsdale75 to log their visit and extend the anniversary story.
City-Wide Exploration
87 stops across Scottsdale's full geography send participants from Pinnacle Peak Trailhead in the north to a dense cluster of 48+ locations in Old Town, with parks, civic buildings, and arts venues in between.
Points-Based Badge Milestones
Check-ins earn between 50 and 150 points depending on the stop, and participants unlock one of eight digital badges as their total crosses thresholds from 100 up to 6,200 points.
Badges
100 Points
300 Points
500 Points
1,000 Points
2,000 Points
3,500 Points
5,000 Points
6,200 Points
Rewards
Beyond the digital badges, participants can collect a set of physical commemorative stickers featuring the same Western-inspired artwork. Each sticker is tied to its own real-world challenge, completable at any one of several participating locations: checking out a book at Mustang Library, bringing a donation to the Scottsdale Food Bank, signing up for a class at The Holland Center, or photographing a membership card at Club SAR Fitness Center, among others. Unlike the digital badges, these aren’t earned through points. Each sticker has its own location cluster and its own challenge, giving participants something tangible to carry home from the celebration.