A miniature train theme park, free to the public, laying at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains.

Wild West history in Hollywood style.

An historic and oft-filmed spot for musclebound iron pumpers on the Pacific coast.

A three-story, three-dimensional hobo clown in a tutu welcomes CVS shoppers.

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.

World's only nuclear reactor operated by liberal arts undergraduates.

Portlandia is the second-largest copper repoussé statue in the United States.

The magic's in the hole!

Featuring a casually threatening atmosphere along with dessert and coffee to die for.

The "3rd largest" city in California is an empty mirage of suburbia in the middle of nowhere.

Contemporary art inspired by natural history and science drawing on ancient techniques in a modern world.

World's largest collection devoted to one fruit.

A fake town founded by Western movie stars is now becoming a hip desert community.

A sign at the end of the Santa Monica Pier marks the traditional end of the legendary American highway.

Named after a bandit and the star of several Hollywood prehistoric landscapes, these sandstone formations are a historical part of the Los Angeles natural landscape.

A desert ghost town—occupied for only 12 years—was once home to more than 500 silver mines.

Rodin's famous depiction of Dante's 'Inferno', amidst a sculpture garden of many of his other works.

The L.A. Zoo has a secret garden of rare bootleg cycads, a palm specimen dating back 280 million years.

The unbelievably opulent home built for an infamous newspaperman.

Exotic feline breeding compound and conservation center.

A modern day curiosity cabinet.

Standing in a state of "arrested decay," this ghost town allows for a detailed peek into Gold Rush life in an unusually harsh climate.

The "world's biggest dinosaur" once housed a creationist museum in its abdomen.