This Southern Californian Conservation Center is home to singing and howling apes.

The beauty and the beast of hydraulic mining is on full display at this California Historic State Park.

An abandoned 1920s-era stretch of cabins now overshadowed by the 66 Motel.

The oldest lighthouse on America's west coast no longer needs keepers, yet they maintain the site anyhow.

Its dark depths conceal millions of rare, delicate crystal formations.

The southernmost outpost of the Russian Empire in colonial America.

“It's the quality” (but probably also the drive-through donut tunnel) that has attracted diners since 1968.

Cows on a ranch are commonplace, scattered cow bones everywhere? Not so much.

Inky sludge oozes to the surface of this beach thanks to a rare natural tar seep.

The remnants of a failed socialist commune can still be found just off a California highway.

Elephant seals and sea lions have turned the abandoned buildings on this island into their endangered love shack.

A New England-style lighthouse along California's beautiful Highway 1 gets a re-do.

A herd of 150 bison live on California's Santa Catalina Island and are at the heart of an ongoing debate between environmental protection and economic expansion.

These four islands right offshore have waterfalls, colorful lights, fancy buildings, and a secret purpose.

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

Despite being a perfectly pleasant place to be, Loyalton can't seem to attract any visitors.

An old-timey medicine shop that once served Chinese laborers during the Gold Rush is still open for business to this day.

Burping, gurgling geothermal mud pots by the Salton Sea.

If you are looking for a used Russian battery, Chinese Ham Radio or other electronic oddities this Flea Market is a good place to start.

Mediums from a psychic utopian community lead a trippy VR journey on a parked desert bus.

A working miniature city designed to teach kids about safety and presumably city planning.

This sun-scorched lakebed contains samples of half the natural elements known to humankind.

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

This graveyard is the eternal home of the residents of a vanished California town.