A burnt orange monolithic dome structure perched on a hillside near Interstate 280.

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

A peculiar mansion built by the troubled heir to the Winchester Rifle Company fortune.

An extensive collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts and mummies.

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

The smallest country in the world.

Back in the day everyone who was anyone played this historic western theater.

A towering tribute to decisiveness stands on the spot where Brigham Young and his followers decided that this must be the place.

The "Crow Boat" of Kootenay Lake, sold for a dollar and now on display as "the world's oldest intact passenger sternwheeler."

From mining complex to industrial exhibition, this museum once played a major part in the X-Files.

A petroglyph map of the upper Snake River carved by prehistoric hunter-gatherers.

There is no trying to fall in love with this Star Wars fountain, you just do or do not.

A tiny theater hidden in an alley plays a constant stream of short silent films for anyone willing to peer through the peephole.

An art supply shop holds the secrets of this quiet neighborhood's raucous Barbary Coast past.

The randomness of this wall of lava lamps helps encrypt up to 10 percent of the internet.

An essential stop before plundering, BYO Cutlass.

Not merely a museum – but a whirring powerhouse that offers a subterranean peek into the heart and soul of cable car operations.

Over 300 taxidermied animals in a Californian restaurant make for a taxidermist's dream and an animal lover's nightmare.

The largest drain hole in the world.

An eccentric millionaire's personal curio collection includes at least one shrunken head.

The magic's in the hole!

No two pieces are exactly the same at Portland's hippo-themed hardware store.

This sandstone mansion was the home of two of Oregon's most important pioneers.

One of the world's tallest, oldest, and most disgusting chocolate cascades.