In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.

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

Staircase winds down the side of Telegraph Hill through gardens, wild parrots flying overhead.

Alleyway plaque commemorating the death of a fictional character in The Maltese Falcon, not far from the author's home.

A man-made island in scenic San Francisco Bay.

A 140-year-old castle with underground caves hidden in San Francisco.

Condemned US Navy seaplane control tower turned officers’ club sits atop Yerba Buena Island.

A store that sells all manner of bones, insects, and animal curiosities.

Spiral labyrinth hidden in the hills above Oakland, CA.

The memorial to the victims of the Jonestown Massacre carries the names of 918 lost, including one name people wish wasn't there.

Oakland's beautiful monumental cemetery.

Antiques by the Bay.

Standing in a state of "arrested decay," this ghost town allows for a detailed peek into Gold Rush life in an unusually harsh climate.

Towering basalt columns, a creation of fire and ice.

Under the right circumstances, this waterfall in Yosemite briefly turns a luminescent fiery orange.