Before it was abandoned and left to rust alongside the road, this riverboat starred in a John Wayne movie.

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

Over 315,000 preserved amphibians and reptiles in jars.

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

This Oakland fairytale kingdom, fiercely devoted to childlike whimsy, was an early inspiration for Disneyland.

First LEED-certified gas station in the United States.

360-degree virtual reality chamber physically immerses scientists into their data.

Where there's quartz, there must be gold. Thus is the story of the mines of Julian, and the titillating times of the Gold Rush.

Early prototype for Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim.

Gorgeous purple flowers drape from the world's largest blossoming plant.

Because there's no place like home.

Legendary prop shop filled with one man's collection of scientific curiosities.

A hidden world of exotic succulents and cacti.

Join the circus for a few lessons to learn clowning, acrobatics, and Chinese contortion.

The graffiti-covered remnants of a former triangulation station are balanced precariously on this California peak.

While exploring the desert, you can stop by the home of a fictional heretic from a parallel universe.

Millions of years of oxidation make a drive down this winding Death Valley road surprisingly colorful.

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

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

The grand, column-fronted, sculpture-adorned home of the ambitious digital library.

Contemporary art inspired by natural history and science drawing on ancient techniques in a modern world.

“It's the quality” (but probably also the drive-through donut tunnel) that has attracted diners since 1968.

From the sky, a kaleidoscope of color brightens the grey landscape of the San Francisco Bay.

A raised boardwalk winds through a thicket of stunted, century-old trees no more than nine feet tall.