A Roman-style column in Oregon hides a spiral staircase inside.

A surreal landscape where fanged rocks rise from the ground and the ocean feels like a great mystery.

Shoreline strewn with the remains of ghostly fallen trees.

A glimpse into the lives of the the Miwok and Paiute people in Yosemite National Park.

The interior of the Overlook Hotel in "The Shining" was based on this Yosemite original.

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

Eons old volcanic activity created one of the most stunning rock formations in the United States.

A charming desert roadside bakery that produces 10 times more bread daily than it has residents in its town.

The tragedy of the Japanese internment camps is remembered here by a stark "Soul Consoling Tower."

The hundreds of movies and television shows shot in this high desert town are commemorated in a unique museum.

Smooth basaltic rocks tell a tale of ancient glacial waterfalls.

The liveliest ghost town in the state.

Each year these high desert hills are absolutely covered with poppy flowers in a surreal show of nature.

Like a kitschy mirage in the Mojave, this eatery serves up classic 50s-style diner meals and a dinosaur sculpture garden.

A desert ghost town—occupied for only 12 years—was once home to more than 500 silver mines.

Abandoned Air Force base that has fallen into disrepair.

The last Americana on Route 66.

Marta Becket's hand-painted theater in the desert.

Twelve plaster figures inspired by da Vinci's famed painting haunt the desert landscape above a real-life ghost town.

A land of debatable treasure.

The most magnificent bottle house in a town strangely full of them.

Odd outsider art installations surround a Gold Rush-era ghost town.

This crumbling Death Valley mining complex was known for its use of giant, 20-mule team wagons.

Millions of years of oxidation make a drive down this winding Death Valley road surprisingly colorful.