A hotel and restaurant serving as the mecca of kitsch.

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

An historic and oft-filmed spot for musclebound iron pumpers on the Pacific coast.

Museum dedicated to the preservation of surf culture.

Megachurch turned Catholic church comprised of 10,000 glass panes.

Oldest building in California still in use.

This historic tower in the California desert promises visitors a "vortex of good vibes".

Costumed elves and mountain bikers co-exist peacefully at this abandoned Christmas-themed adventure park.

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

What is the Thing?

The "world's biggest dinosaur" once housed a creationist museum in its abdomen.

An abandoned Jazz Age dream home and con man's hideout in Death Valley.

Odd outsider art installations surround a Gold Rush-era ghost town.

"Only the devil could play golf here."

Ten 25-foot-tall, beehive-shaped kilns, abandoned in Death Valley.

Marta Becket's hand-painted theater in the desert.

See massive fossils that are over 200 million years old in northeastern Arizona.

A motel dedicated to Southwestern nostalgia.

A spiritual vortex among the red rocks in Sedona.

Eons ago, a rushing lava river formed this pristine passage through solid rock.

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

Turning night into day in Victorian-era Austin to thwart a serial killer.

Controversially claiming the title of world's biggest bass drum, UT's Big Bertha was once made radioactive by the Manhattan Project.

An emerald-green grotto just a short trip from Austin.