A massive volcanic plug is now a protected area that hosts a number of bird species.

The unbelievably opulent home built for an infamous newspaperman.

The San Andreas Fault spectacularly offsets this creek.

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

This rock formation named for its unique shape is one of many that call the Alabama Hills home.

A massive hydrovolcanic explosion left a half-mile wide crater in Death Valley.

The rocks in this arid basin leave trails of movement behind them.

"Only the devil could play golf here."

Ten 25-foot-tall, beehive-shaped kilns, abandoned in Death Valley.

One of the most unusual geological features, recognizable from a dozen hit movies.

Thousands of migrating monarchs overwinter clustered amongst the eucalyptus trees.

Coastal dunes, site of buried Egyptian movie set and former utopian colony.

Colorful Native American paintings are hidden within this small cavern.

A popular winter vacation destination for migrating monarch butterflies.

The show's fictional Korean medical camp was created in the Santa Monica hills.

A stranded woman lived alone on this remote island for 18 years, inspiring the great children's novel "Island of the Blue Dolphins."

A mysterious and endangered parasitic herb from the California desert.

This dormant volcanic crater has been converted from a roiling pit of magma to a pleasant hiking spot.

The largest dune field in the Mojave offers a chance of hearing the 'singing sands.'

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

A former utopian healing center created by a huckster and built by derelicts.

Carved by a waterfall in a hard-to-reach rock formation, this heart-shaped rock has inspired romantics for decades.

This former stomping grounds of the most eminent astronomers of the early 20th century.

A ring of creosote bushes that are estimated to be 11,700 years old.