qtz's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Crater Lake, Oregon

Crater Lake

The deepest lake in the United States, and once the site of epic destruction that lives on in legends.
Marfa, Texas

Marfa Lights

Mysterious glowing orbs float through the desert night.
Beatty, Nevada

Rhyolite Ghost Town

Odd outsider art installations surround a Gold Rush-era ghost town.
El Prado, New Mexico

Earthships

These aggressively sustainable art homes look like something out of 1970's science fiction.
Austin, Texas

Toy Joy

A store full of vintage and indie toys designed to bring out the kid in even the crustiest of adults.
Roswell, New Mexico

International UFO Museum and Research Center

A museum dedicated to the alleged Roswell Incident.
Groom Lake, Nevada

Area 51

In the middle of an extremely unforgiving and desolate high desert is the most secret military facility in the world.
Battle Mountain, Nevada

Armpit of America

Small Nevada town embraced its designation as the "Armpit of America" with an Old Spice-sponsored festival.
Grass Valley, California

Empire Mine State Park

The Empire Mine is "one of the oldest, largest, deepest, longest and richest gold mines in California."
Austin, Nevada

U.S. Route 50

Officially named the "Loneliest Road in America," this barren stretch of Nevada road offers almost nothing but sky and open fields.
Lee Vining, California

Mono Lake

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

Pyramid Lake

This Nevada lake holds its titular natural pyramid and, if the legends are true, a number of dangerous spirits.
Mount Hamilton, California

Lick Observatory

The world's first permanently occupied mountain-top observatory continues to report on the stars.
Palo Alto, California

Gates of Hell Sculpture

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

Hangar One

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

Great Mall of Milpitas

This giant shopping mall still holds signs of its automotive past.
Newark, California

Salt Ponds of San Francisco Bay

From the sky, a kaleidoscope of color brightens the grey landscape of the San Francisco Bay.
Austin, Texas

Congress Bridge Bats

Home to the largest urban bat colony in North America, estimated at 1.5 million bats.
Watrous, New Mexico

Fort Union National Monument

The ruins of this abandoned fort now stand as a picturesque reminder of America's march West.
Las Vegas, New Mexico

Dwan Light Sanctuary

A futuristic temple of light uses prisms and rainbows to create an atmosphere of peace.
Santa Fe, New Mexico

Girard Wing

A sprawling collection of over 106,000 toys from around the world.
Santa Fe, New Mexico

Loretto Chapel

Wedding chapel's mysterious spiral staircase said to be miraculously constructed.
Taos, New Mexico

Taos Pueblo

A multi-storied adobe complex has been inhabited for more than a thousand years.
Los Alamos, New Mexico

Bandelier National Monument

A small metropolis of Pueblo cave dwellings have been carved right into the hillside of this national monument.