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

This unlicensed collection of fast-food memorabilia sits on the site of the first ever McDonald's restaurant.

Dozens of feral felines rule a segment of Hollywood's only graveyard.

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

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

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 remains of a ruined mansion memorialize the 1906 earthquake.

A Swedenborgian glass church surrounded by redwoods sits perched atop a massive landslide area.

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

San Francisco's urban bison herd has persisted in the face of extinction, development, and disease.

Aqueducts have dramatically changed this old lake, now home to tufa towers and its very own species of tiny brine shrimp.

A 300-ship graveyard, with a few still visible at low tide.

An outdoor sculpture park of giant pink robots and post-apocalyptic Christmas scenes.

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

An essential stop before plundering, BYO Cutlass.

One of the most scenic stretches of road in America winds between some of the country's oldest trees.

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

A hotel and restaurant serving as the mecca of kitsch.

There is no trying to fall in love with this Star Wars fountain, you just do or do not.

A hand-built folk art installation covered with messages of God's love.

A walk-in working camera obscura produces 360-degree live images of the San Francisco coast.

Scores of vintage street lamps shine along L.A.’s Miracle Mile.

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

Bring your own cardboard to the slippery slopes of concrete hidden in a neighborhood park.