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 Iowa 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
Iowa gems, most-loved first
- 1Maquoketa Caves State ParkEastern Iowa's wildest park packs thirteen caves into a six-mile trail system, from the 1,100-foot walk-through Dancehall Cave to a 17-ton balanced rock — bring a headlamp and old shoes.
- 2Fenelon Place ElevatorBilled as the world's shortest and steepest scenic railway, this 1882 funicular hauls you 189 feet up a Dubuque bluff for a three-state view across the Mississippi.
- 3Effigy Mounds National MonumentAlong the Mississippi in far-northeast Iowa, forested trails climb past ancient burial mounds shaped like bears and birds, some over 2,000 years old, with bluff-top river views.
- 4High Trestle Trail BridgeHalf a mile of rail-trail soars 13 stories over the Des Moines River near Madrid, wrapped in 43 twisting steel ribs that glow at night and feel like riding through a glowing mine shaft.
- 5Loess Hills Scenic BywayA 200-mile drive through western Iowa threading rare windblown-soil bluffs found at this scale almost nowhere else on earth — pull off at the Murray Hill or Preparation Canyon overlooks.
- 6Squirrel Cage JailCouncil Bluffs guards the only three-story "rotary jail" ever built, a 45-ton cell block that spun on a hand crank so one cell faced the door at a time — a delightfully creepy self-guided stop.
- 7Grotto of the RedemptionIn tiny West Bend, one priest spent decades cementing tons of rocks, gems, and petrified wood into a sprawling religious grotto often called the "Eighth Wonder of the World" — free and open around the clock.
- 8American Gothic HouseThe plain white farmhouse in Eldon is the exact backdrop Grant Wood painted behind his pitchfork-wielding couple, and the visitor center lends you a pitchfork and overalls for the photo.
- 9Hobo MuseumBritt has hosted the National Hobo Convention for over a century, and this little museum in a former movie theater honors riding-the-rails culture with artifacts and tales from real road-wanderers.
- 10Storm Lake Chainsaw Art TrailAcross this northwest-Iowa lake town, artist Jeff Klatt carved dead trees into eagles, characters, and whole woodland scenes scattered around the parks and streets — a free scavenger hunt of folk sculpture.
Not your state’s turn yet?
Want Roamward to map Iowa 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