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

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

Honoring the famed folktale author, this California museum looks like it belongs in the Black Forest.

A popular winter vacation destination for migrating monarch butterflies.

A massive volcanic plug is now a protected area that hosts a number of bird species.

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

The unbelievably opulent home built for an infamous newspaperman.

This stretch of beach along California's central coast is a busy highway for the largest seal in the northern hemisphere.

This Big Sur waterfall drops 80 feet directly into the Pacific Ocean, and inspired the hillside house up top.

It's not your typical library, memorial, or book store.

Life in this isolated, hilltop lighthouse was lonely, but it sure was lovely.

Offering commanding views of the California coastline, this restaurant was a hub for the artists and bohemians of Big Sur.

It should come as no surprise that the world's largest artichoke lies in the town that calls itself the "Artichoke Center of the World."

Fake rail crossings mark the site of an influential doctor's demise.

Steinbeck's old stomping grounds, immortalized in Cannery Row.

This concrete ship has had four careers - World War I tanker, floating amusement park, fishing pier, and artificial reef.

Housed in a memorial lighthouse, this museum relays the history of surfing, beginning with the antics of royal Hawaiian teenagers.

A vast city of the dead, where the deceased outnumber the living by more than a million.

This controversial depiction of the "Founder of California" looks as though it was sculpted from mashed potatoes.

The black lab that was voted mayor of a California town is forever remembered by a life-size statue.

A Roman-inspired temple once controlled half of San Francisco's waters.

A pair of pure white felines guard the entrance to a spot of California real estate established as an artist's haven.

A burnt orange monolithic dome structure perched on a hillside near Interstate 280.

A classically inspired temple in Redwood City.