A stranded woman lived alone on this remote island for 18 years, inspiring the great children's novel "Island of the Blue Dolphins."

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

This historic iron-working village is now a ghost town so immaculate that it looks as though it was recently built.

See just what life was like in a 19th-century prospecting town.

The above-ground crypts at this Catholic cemetery face north-south instead of the usual east-west.

The silent film master's legacy commemorated in all the right and wrong places.

A ruined Maya city that suffered a years-long case of mistaken identity.

The hidden lair of an alchemist rediscovered in a 2002 flood.

Talula the swan has been welcoming visitors to Elk Rapids, Michigan, for more than four decades.

This giant roadside goose has been hailing travelers into a small Ontario town for over 50 years.

This 40-foot fowl marks the so-called "wild goose capital of the world."

A giant poultry statue immortalizes one of Alaska's more humorous town names.

The poet's been ambling through these New York woods since 1940.

One doctor's retirement plan included opening this award-winning Mexican-Indian eatery on the ground floor of a hospital.

Featuring a meatless buffet fit for kings, this family-owned Zurich eatery is considered the oldest vegetarian restaurant in the West.

The eerie remnants of an ancient forest were hidden under the sand for centuries.

A mesmerizing wonderland of salt-encrusted tree branches and pencil roots.

This crocodile-infested East Timor reservoir is also home to a spectacular half-sunken forest.

The longest non-mortared wall in the country is one man's tribute to his displaced Yuchi ancestor's five-year journey to her homeland.

This trail follows unique stone railroad tracks and a historic waterway to the south coast of Devon.

This lovely tree was a thank you gift from the man known as "Public Enemy No.1."

This mountain trail inspired Nietzsche to complete his magnum opus.

This Irish show cave is said to have been the site of a Viking massacre that claimed 1,000 lives.

This ancient amphitheater was restored in the early 1990s.