The quiet canyon has a tumultuous history involving a doomsday cult.

A hard-to-reach oasis in a desolate corner of Death Valley National Park.

"Only the devil could play golf here."

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

The liveliest ghost town in the state.

The highest dunes in California are the most likely place in the area to hear the Singing Sands.

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

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.

One of the most unusual geological features, recognizable from a dozen hit movies.

Secret Manor, a house full of legends, the least of which is the haunting of long-deceased ladies of pleasure.

An extensive collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts and mummies.

Located on 420 acres in the high desert, this spiritual center is dedicated to the "science of the future."

One of the last free public hot springs is decorated with hippie art.

This naturally heated mountainous creek has created a group of neon blue pools of potentially deadly boiling water.

San Francisco Bay's ghost town.

One of the ghostly stops along Route 66.

The site of murders and Satanic cult gatherings.

This massive redwood tree has a hole in the base big enough to drive through.

The lowest point in North America is home to an undrinkable pool surrounded by fields of geometric salt flats.

An eclectic trailer park retreat in the middle of the California desert.

A storybook European village in Berkeley.

A faux European lane smack dab in downtown L.A.

This abandoned Navy base was transformed into an off-grid alternative living community for thousands of people.