A Barbary Coast watering hole built into a Gold Rush shipwreck.

This turn of the century masterpiece has a mysterious goaty interloper.

An extensive collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts and mummies.

A desert ghost town—occupied for only 12 years—was once home to more than 500 silver mines.

A volcanic tunnel illuminated by natural skylights offers a shaded respite from the desert sun.

An overlooked and unassuming engineering marvel.

This unlicensed collection of fast-food memorabilia sits on the site of the first ever McDonald's restaurant.

This private residence was the template for one of the most beloved television homes of all time.

Hundreds of trees made from glass bottles make up this forest on Route 66.

A still functioning vaudeville carousel that has operated for over a century boasts a colorful menagerie and past.

One of the last free public hot springs is decorated with hippie art.

A common entry point to the Griffith Observatory trail holds its own wonders.

These millipedes glow not out of attraction, but as a not-too-subtle warning.

Exotic feline breeding compound and conservation center.

The abandoned personal amusement park of the King of Pop.

An extraordinarily ornate museum in San Diego holds wondrous anthropological treasures.

California's own medieval Italian castle, authentic down to the 300-year-old iron maiden in the dungeon.

San Francisco's urban bison herd has persisted in the face of extinction, development, and disease.

One of the ghostly stops along Route 66.

This naturally heated mountainous creek has created a group of neon blue pools of potentially deadly boiling water.

An eclectic trailer park retreat in the middle of the California desert.

This rare example of a "tidefall" is a spectacular drop from the cliffs down onto the beach.

The now-abandoned tunnels were built for the transcontinental railroad on the route where the first wagon train entered California.

This massive redwood tree has a hole in the base big enough to drive through.