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 Kentucky 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
Kentucky gems, most-loved first
- 1Kentucky Reptile ZooTucked at the edge of the Red River Gorge near Slade, this small zoo holds one of the world's largest venomous snake collections — time your visit for the 1 p.m. venom-extraction demo.
- 2Augusta FerryOne of the oldest working ferries on the Ohio River, running since the 1790s, this little cable boat shuttles cars across to Ohio in about ten minutes from the pretty town of Augusta.
- 3Kentucky StonehengeA former Munfordville mayor hand-built this full-scale, solstice-aligned stone circle in his yard, and his family keeps it open and free — a delightfully strange roadside stop in central Kentucky.
- 4Wooldridge MonumentsIn Mayfield's Maplewood Cemetery stands the "Strange Procession That Never Moves," eighteen 1890s stone statues of one man's family, horse, and dogs — a haunting folk memorial in far-western Kentucky.
- 5Cumberland FallsNicknamed the Niagara of the South, this 125-foot-wide curtain of water near Corbin is the only reliable spot in the Western Hemisphere to catch a moonbow under a full moon.
- 6Blue Heron MineInside Big South Fork near Stearns, this National Park Service "ghost mine" recreates an abandoned 1937 coal camp with ghostly open-air structures and an audio tour — ride the scenic railway in or hike the gorge.
- 7Red River GorgeIn the Daniel Boone National Forest, this canyon system hides dozens of natural sandstone arches, towering cliffs, and the famous Sky Bridge overlook, with world-class hiking that still feels wild.
- 8The Fork in the RoadAlong a quiet backroad in Simpson County, an enormous dinner fork rises from the ground as a whimsical public art piece — a pure roadside-Americana surprise on a scenic southern-Kentucky drive.
- 9World's Tallest Three-Story BuildingIn Paris, an 1891 brick building stretches three "stories" to an oddly towering height that's baffled passersby for over a century — a blink-and-you'll-miss-it curiosity in horse country.
- 10International Paranormal MuseumIn Somerset, this offbeat museum dives into UFOs, Bigfoot, life on Mars, and assorted unexplained phenomena — a fun, weird rainy-day stop in south-central Kentucky.
Not your state’s turn yet?
Want Roamward to map Kentucky 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