On a barren hillside in the Yucca Valley, the recently restored Desert Christ Park has attracted pilgrims and kitsch hunters for over 50 years.

A volcanic tunnel illuminated by natural skylights offers a shaded respite from the desert sun.

Along a California highway is a kind of Jurassic Park made of metal.

A house built from trash known as the poor man's Hearst Castle.

This traditional garden in the San Fernando Valley doubled for Star Fleet Academy, and is irrigated entirely by wastewater.

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

Golden Gate Park's historic collection of plants.

This quirky roadside attraction dives into the many theories surrounding North America's most infamous hairy cryptid.

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

Mexican food and folk art.

The famous animator's private station house and man-cave was the birthplace of imagineering.

A world-class observatory in the California desert.

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

Megachurch turned Catholic church comprised of 10,000 glass panes.

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

This private residence was the template for one of the most beloved television homes of all time.

Lucha Libre (Mexican Wrestling) themed taco shop.

A former utopian healing center created by a huckster and built by derelicts.

The unbelievably opulent home built for an infamous newspaperman.

An extraordinarily ornate museum in San Diego holds wondrous anthropological treasures.

An inconspicuous footbridge beloved by San Diego locals.

After starting as a whimsical tourist attraction that eventually found its way to ruin, these renovated canals offer a lush and exotic locale on the Pacific Coast.

The final resting place of a space program monolith.

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