The Gem Hunt
America decides what makes the map.
Every state has a spot the algorithms miss — the one locals send strangers to. Name it. Vote on the finalists. The winners get built into Roamward, the scenic road-trip app that proves you actually went. No download required to play.
Nominate
What does Colorado do better than anywhere?
One hidden gem — a place a chatbot would never know. The most-named spots become finalists, and the crowd votes the winner into Roamward.
Vote
Colorado gems, most-loved first
- 1Bishop CastleA towering, hand-built stone-and-iron castle one man has been constructing for decades in the San Isabel National Forest southwest of Pueblo, complete with a fire-breathing dragon.
- 2Strawberry Park Hot SpringsStone-lined natural pools set in the forest just outside Steamboat Springs, reached by a rough dirt road — rustic, scenic, and clothing-optional after dark.
- 3Independence PassA white-knuckle paved climb over 12,000 feet between Twin Lakes and Aspen, threading alpine tundra and old mining ruins, open only in the warmer months.
- 4Paint Mines Interpretive ParkA surreal little canyon of banded, candy-colored clay spires near Calhan east of Colorado Springs, where people quarried pigment for centuries — easy trails, big payoff.
- 5Great Sand Dunes National ParkNorth America's tallest dunes piled against the Sangre de Cristos in the San Luis Valley, where you can sandboard the slopes and wade Medano Creek in spring.
- 6St. ElmoColorado's best-preserved ghost town near Buena Vista, with a wooden main street of false-front storefronts and chipmunks that'll eat from your hand — a dusty, atmospheric end-of-the-road stop.
- 7Ouray Hot Springs PoolA crescent of mineral pools in the heart of "the Switzerland of America," ringed by jagged San Juan peaks — soak between drives on the Million Dollar Highway with a dramatic backdrop.
- 8UFO WatchtowerA homemade observation deck and "healing garden" in the San Luis Valley dedicated to sky-watching for the unexplained, with a quirky alien-themed gift dome near Hooper.
- 9Coney Island Hot Dog StandA historic hot-dog stand shaped like a giant hot dog along Highway 285 in Bailey, slinging Polish links and elk brats to mountain travelers — pure Colorado kitsch on the way to the high country.
- 10Frontier Drive-InnA lovingly revived mid-century drive-in movie theater and roadside motel in the wide-open San Luis Valley, where you watch films under some of the darkest skies in the country, near Center.
Not your state’s turn yet?
Want Roamward to map Colorado next?
Add your vote — the loudest state gets mapped first.
How it works
Nominate
Drop the most underrated spot in your state — the gem an itinerary generator would never surface.
The crowd ranks it
Name a place someone already nominated and it rises. The most-loved gems become the state’s finalists.
Vote the winner in
Finalists go to a public vote. Winners get built into Roamward — credited to the people who found them.
Go verify it
Drive it, GPS-verify the stop, earn the badge, and share the map that proves you were first.
Don’t miss the winners
Be the first to find what the crowd picks.
Join early access and we’ll tell you when your state’s gem wins — and when Roamward opens for iOS testing.
Get early access