The old Niles Canyon Aqueduct in the San Francisco Bay Area is a bemusing and secret trail through nature for wayward travelers.

A life-sized mammoth sculpture marks the spot where the remains of a Columbian mammoth were discovered in 2005.

A giant chess set, minus the psychedelic drug trip.

An extensive collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts and mummies.

Hidden among the multi-million dollar mansions in the Santa Cruz hills is a sanctuary for troubled birds.

Neither Spanish settlers nor anyone since has been able to tell who built these strange California rock walls.

One of the largest free-standing structures ever built, this dirigible hangar is now simply a giant skeleton.

San Francisco Bay's ghost town.

From the Difference Engine to the Cray-1, all under one roof.

This odd California folly seems like it was almost designed to accumulate urban legends.

The world's most famous donkey lives in this pen.

The rusting remains of the largest assembled WWII fleet on the West Coast.

Rodin's famous depiction of Dante's 'Inferno', amidst a sculpture garden of many of his other works.

This quaint archive of the silent era preserves and pays homage to a seminal moment in film history.

A hidden world of exotic succulents and cacti.

A historic hotel in an old California railroad town with a rowdy reputation.

Junkbots and mud babies are the masterpieces in this fantastically sci-fi art museum.

Law-protected wreckage serves as a peculiar memorial for an almost forgotten World War II tragedy.

A B&B on a Victorian lighthouse station in San Francisco Bay.

9,000 square feet of vintage and modern mechanical toys, dioramas & sideshow curiosities.

Where the alchemists dream of transmuting base metal into gold was actually achieved.

One man's prolific, decade-long quest to turn trash into artistic treasure.

The century-old bell and clock tower at UC Berkeley is the third-tallest in the world, and has fossils.

A storybook European village in Berkeley.