These lush groves of fan palms rise up like oases out of southern California's Colorado Desert.

A Tibetan Temple and Buddhist organization just off the beaten path in Northern California.

A mountain range on an active U.S. Navy base hides thousands of mysterious prehistoric rock carvings.

Spend a day hanging out with domesticated Russian foxes.

Of all the origin stories for weed's secret code, this one likely has the goods.

Catch a glimpse of the elusive Peninsular bighorns right off of the desert freeway.

More than 700 species live within this murky marvel of a swamp on California's coast.

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

A local dialect born in the late 19th century is only spoken in this isolated California valley.

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

Hike amid the palm trees that thrive among Southern California's Indio Hills.

This former boomtown "island" is now submerged below Folsom Lake.

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

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

A ghost town originally established and governed solely by Black Americans seeking a place of their own, free from discrimination.

A lighthouse built to save lives that took quite a few with its treacherous location.

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

At this deceptively beautiful beach, nothing is what it seems.

Since World War II people have been decorating this stretch of the Yuma desert with signatures arranged out of rocks.

Museum dedicated to the preservation of surf culture.

The black lab that was voted mayor of a California town is forever remembered by a life-size statue.

Once the largest winery in the world, this castle-like building now sits abandoned on the San Pablo/San Francisco Bay shore.

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

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