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 South Dakota 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
South Dakota gems, most-loved first
- 1Porter Sculpture ParkA field of 50-plus haunting, funny, hand-welded steel sculptures — including a 60-foot bull's head — right off I-90 near Montrose, made by one wonderfully eccentric artist.
- 2Petrified Wood ParkAn entire city block of castles, towers, and pyramids built from 4,000 tons of petrified wood in Lemmon, free to walk year-round in the state's remote northwest.
- 3Dignity of Earth and SkyA luminous 50-foot stainless-steel statue of a Lakota woman with a star quilt, glowing above the Missouri River at a rest area in Chamberlain, right off I-90.
- 4The Mammoth SiteAn active dig in Hot Springs where you walk over the bones of 60-plus Ice Age mammoths trapped in an ancient sinkhole, a fascinating stop at the edge of the Black Hills.
- 5Chapel in the HillsAn exact wooden replica of Norway's 12th-century Borgund stave church, hand-carved and quietly tucked into a pine canyon outside Rapid City.
- 6Evans Plunge Mineral SpringsThe Black Hills' oldest attraction, an 1890 indoor pool fed by mineral springs that hold a steady 87 degrees, with 5,000 gallons of warm water flowing through every hour, in the town of Hot Springs.
- 7Roughlock FallsA tiered waterfall spilling over mossy limestone in Spearfish Canyon, reached by an easy paved path with overlooks and picnic spots — the canyon byway drive in is half the reward.
- 8Minuteman Missile National Historic SiteA preserved Cold War nuclear missile silo where you peer through glass at a real Minuteman II still in the ground, plus a free visitor center off I-90 near Wall — a sobering prairie detour.
- 9Geographic Center of the Nation MonumentA 21-foot stone marker in Belle Fourche standing in for the exact center of all 50 states, paired with a small visitor center and the Tri-State Museum in the far northwest corner.
- 101880 TownMore than 30 frontier-era buildings furnished with thousands of relics, plus Dances with Wolves movie props, sitting right off I-90 west of Murdo — an immersive prairie time-capsule.
Not your state’s turn yet?
Want Roamward to map South Dakota 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