quite hacky to say the least, but it's how I get my kicks…

link-to-via-journey-helper-rails.rb

module ApplicationHelper

  # @see https://github.com/rails/journey
  def link(txt, ctl, act)
    begin
      x = Rails.application.routes.routes.select {|x| x.defaults[:controller] == ctl and x.defaults[:action] == act}.first.path.spec.left.to_s

      return link_to(txt.html_safe, x)
    rescue => e
      message = "ERROR route does not exist; controller: #{ctl}, action: #{act}; #{e.message}"

      # log
      Rails.logger.error(message)

      # raise (not graceful)
      raise message

      # or return (graceful)
      return nil
    end
  end
  
end


# in the view
link('dude awesome', 'controller_name', 'action_name')
#=> <a href="/controller/action_name">dude&nbsp;awesome</a>