A ruined hotel with an unlucky history and an eerie present.

Haunting and beautiful trees, doomed to die.

An old-timey medicine shop that once served Chinese laborers during the Gold Rush is still open for business to this day.

One of the oldest reform schools in the United States, home to wayward boys such as Merle Haggard, now abandoned.

One of the most unusual geological features, recognizable from a dozen hit movies.

A hotel and restaurant serving as the mecca of kitsch.

A house built from trash known as the poor man's Hearst Castle.

Cambria's most unique B&B features creative surroundings and fantastic food.

A popular tourist cave with a dark past.

Standing in a state of "arrested decay," this ghost town allows for a detailed peek into Gold Rush life in an unusually harsh climate.

Smooth basaltic rocks tell a tale of ancient glacial waterfalls.

Aqueducts have dramatically changed this old lake, now home to tufa towers and its very own species of tiny brine shrimp.

Towering basalt columns, a creation of fire and ice.

These millipedes glow not out of attraction, but as a not-too-subtle warning.

An underground mansion with fruit-bearing trees and grapes growing beneath the surface of central California.