This quirky UFO-shaped curiosity is often mistaken for the airport’s control tower.

These four islands right offshore have waterfalls, colorful lights, fancy buildings, and a secret purpose.

This stretch of beach along California's central coast is a busy highway for the largest seal in the northern hemisphere.

The California capital city once stood 10 feet lower than it does today.

A glimpse into the lives of the the Miwok and Paiute people in Yosemite National Park.

Four hundred granite steps were built into this massive rock by the National Park Service.

340 bicycles, 65 feet high.

The interior of the Overlook Hotel in "The Shining" was based on this Yosemite original.

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

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

Abandoned bridge hidden deep in the San Gabriel Mountains.

One of the most scenic stretches of road in America winds between some of the country's oldest trees.

Quite simply the largest tree in the world (by volume).

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.

After this former brothel closed, its interior remained almost frozen in time.

It was once used as a classroom to teach mining skills to local high school students.

Tucked away on a scenic trail, a modest memorial honors one of the greatest writers of our time.

An errant donkey ushered in a new era of mining in Nevada.

Eastern zen meets Western grit in these four little trees growing out of a rock on Lake Tahoe’s Nevada shore.

Officially named the "Loneliest Road in America," this barren stretch of Nevada road offers almost nothing but sky and open fields.

Dyed by iron oxide over centuries, these sandstone rocks rise thousands of feet into the sky.

A tribute to Ponce de Leon's supposed quest for eternal youth.

A luxurious 1880s hotel with its fair share of Tiffany stained glass, Edison electricity, and of course, ghosts.

One devoted couple has donated multiple recreations of Michelangelo's sculptures to this South Dakota town.