nickruck's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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California City, California

California City: The Unbuilt Suburb

The "3rd largest" city in California is an empty mirage of suburbia in the middle of nowhere.
Rosamond, California

The Cat House

Exotic feline breeding compound and conservation center.
Lancaster, California

Civic Musical Road

Finale of "William Tell Overture" can be heard as drivers pass over grooves in the road.
Inyo County, California

Sailing Stones of Racetrack Playa

The rocks in this arid basin leave trails of movement behind them.
Blythe, California

Blythe Intaglios

Ancient human, animal, and geometric figures drawn in the earth.
Amboy, California

Amboy Ghost Town

The ghost town that ended up on Ebay.
Ludlow, California

Ludlow

One of the ghostly stops along Route 66.
Los Angeles, California

Rustic Canyon's Murphy Ranch

World War II-era Nazi compound nestled in the Santa Monica hills.
Panamint, California

Barker Ranch

The location of the last stand of Charles Manson's doomsday cult.
Johannesburg, California

Randsburg

The liveliest ghost town in the state.
Los Angeles, California

Templo Santa Muerte

A shrine to a skeleton saint in the city of angels.
Los Angeles, California

Synchronicity Space

An enchanted arts space which assumes infinite identities.
Mecca, California

Salton Sea

The ghostly remains of an accidental sea.
Calipatria, California

Salvation Mountain

A hand-built folk art installation covered with messages of God's love.
Mecca, California

International Banana Museum

World's largest collection devoted to one fruit.
Prospect Hill, North Carolina

Shangri-La Stone Village

A retired tobacco farmer's pet project turned into a sturdy miniature city.
Asheville, North Carolina

Helen's Bridge

This bridge is haunted by the ghost of a distraught mother.
Southern Pines, North Carolina

Creation Museum, Taxidermy Hall of Fame, and Antique Tool Museum

A curious blend of taxidermy, antique tools, creationism, and a purported antediluvian rock.
Sanford, North Carolina

Endor Iron Furnace

Ruins of an American Civil War iron forge still survive today.
Bear Creek, North Carolina

Devil's Tramping Ground

A 120-year-old legend concerning an empty circular patch in the North Carolina woods.
Yucca Valley, California

Desert Christ Park

On a barren hillside in the Yucca Valley, the recently restored Desert Christ Park has attracted pilgrims and kitsch hunters for over 50 years.
Culver City, California

The Wende Museum

Home to secret Eastern Bloc spy equipment and the largest stretch of the original Berlin Wall outside of Germany.
Inglewood, California

Randy's Donuts

A giant donut stands as a popular symbol of Los Angeles iconography.
Santa Monica, California

Route 66 End of the Trail Sign

A sign at the end of the Santa Monica Pier marks the traditional end of the legendary American highway.