Life in this isolated, hilltop lighthouse was lonely, but it sure was lovely.

This concrete tangle of square pipes has stood as a proud thorn in the city's side since the '70s.

Golden Gate Park's historic collection of plants.

This Big Sur waterfall drops 80 feet directly into the Pacific Ocean, and inspired the hillside house up top.

The last remaining relic of San Francisco's glittering 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition.

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).

San Francisco's newly reopened hands-on science museum.

World-famous, Pink's still manages to keep its prized cult fetish status.

These delicate buggers are some of the rarest fossils that have bubbled up from the Tar Pits.

A trash dump made beautiful by nature's power.

Hollywood's most famous landmark, the "temporary" sign that has stood for decades longer than intended.

It should come as no surprise that the best view of the Hollywood sign is from Batman's lair.

High on a hill overlooking Los Angeles lives a world famous, high power conical Tesla Coil.

Remants of foundations, streets, and streetcar tracks inhabit the cliffs where a landslide occurred in 1929.

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

A chain of bells connect the California Missions and honor the legend of the "King’s Highway."

A simple statue outside a California Amtrak station honors the overlooked contributions of the "silent spikes."

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

The unbelievably opulent home built for an infamous newspaperman.

An alley covered with 20 years of bubble gum.

A hotel and restaurant serving as the mecca of kitsch.

Home to a forest of whimsical pygmy Coast live oak.

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