A 300-yard long natural tunnel runs through a ridge deep in the Appalachian Mountains.

The remains of a failed attempt at medieval nerdery are hidden deep in the woods of Virginia.

European castle ruins in an American state park are actually the product of death and grief.

Once an ambitious nature spa, these forest ruins now provide a serene monument to failure.

A roadside park in eastern Maine first marked the halfway point between the equator and North Pole with a brass pin in 1896.

Turns out you can see the world without ever leaving Maine.

The final resting place of the camel who served with the Confederate Army during the Civil War.

Resting place of the Texas A&M canine mascots, who watch the game from the grave with their own miniature scoreboard.

A decaying concrete oil tanker served as a disposal location for bootleg hootch.

The 40-foot-tall votive candle is the largest of its kind.

A 131-year-old wunderkammer of Texas history.

This Birdsill Holly fire hydrant is the remnant of a very different type of hydration innovation.

Seemingly grown on some other world, these New Mexico rock formations look like a disused science fiction set.

Sandstone rock formations that look like they belong on the cover of a progressive rock album.

The land is full of geologic eye candy, such as otherworldly spires, mushroom-shaped hoodoos, and prehistoric fossils.

A preserve with 75,000 ancient drawings remains the realm of public – not just scientific – exploration.

A unique geological area spiked with wind-carved rocks that resemble teepees.

A small metropolis of Pueblo cave dwellings have been carved right into the hillside of this national monument.

Despite time, colonization, and the brutal New Mexican heat, these Pueblo ruins still stand.

The old Route 66 town straddling Texas and New Mexico died along with the Main Street of America.

Life-sized sculpture of a blue whale made of hand-recycled plastic trash.

One of the American Southwest's most extensive collections of Navajo rock art.

Its history includes dinosaur fossils, cattle rustlers, Georgia O'Keeffe, and a mythical giant rattlesnake named Vivaron.

This innocuous New Mexico storefront was once the secret jump-off spot for Manhattan Project scientists.