An iconic location along the Los Angeles River where countless movie scenes are filmed.

A remote desert lookout offers unparalleled views of the California badlands for those who brave the trek.

Hidden in the Santa Ynez Mountains off Highway 154, this tiny restaurant once served as a stagecoach stop.

A massive ultra-modern church presents a science-fiction view of Catholicism's inclusive future.

A performance hall at the American Jewish University moonlights as a sci-fi film location set.

Large but largely ignored, these 42 life-size Liberty Bell replicas were a peculiar, unexplained feature on the facade of a Macy's department store.

A restored 1920s cascade stairway provides one of the best views of Oakland's Lake Merritt.

A master of deception, Harry Houdini's greatest trick may have been living in two places at once.

Like a kitschy mirage in the Mojave, this eatery serves up classic 50s-style diner meals and a dinosaur sculpture garden.

A celebration of once forgotten materials.

The Los Angeles flood disaster that took 400 lives and ended the career of William Mulholland.

Massive prehistoric mammals used these stones as oversized scratching posts.

One of the largest helium balloons in the U.S. is a 112-foot ginormous orange.

This whimsical seashell-shaped place of worship was designed to blend into its surroundings.

The blinking light atop the iconic landmark has been sending secret messages for decades.

An ominous concrete cube cuts a dystopian silhouette atop this California mountain.

The largest whiskey stash on the West Coast survived the 1906 fires--but not without heroic effort.

Its dark depths conceal millions of rare, delicate crystal formations.

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

From sax to spuds, get 'em all at this landmark music establishment.

Elephant seals and sea lions have turned the abandoned buildings on this island into their endangered love shack.

A stellar example of Art & Crafts architecture, and a movie set to boot.

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

Every weekend, the parking lot of this Buddhist temple turns into a Thai street-food paradise.