dearjulie's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Glendale, California

Forest Lawn Cemetery

An extraordinary final resting place full of oversized art, amazing statues, and dead celebrities.
Salinas, California

Fort Ord

Once America’s most beautiful army base, this abandoned military fort on the coast of Monterey Bay has been left to the elements.
Pasadena, California

Mount Wilson Observatory

This former stomping grounds of the most eminent astronomers of the early 20th century.
San Diego, California

Hotel del Coronado

L. Frank Baum wrote part of the "Wizard of Oz" series in this wooden Victorian beach resort.
Pacific Grove, California

Monarch Grove Sanctuary

Every year, over 25,000 monarchs overwinter in Pacific Grove.
Long Beach, California

The RMS Queen Mary

The awe-inspiring ship from the golden era of cruising has an incomparable history and a reputation as one of the world’s most haunted places.
San Quentin, California

San Quentin Prison Gift Shop

This infamous prison has a store where you can buy goods crafted by incarcerated people.
Pacific Grove, California

Kissing Rock

Two rocks in a perpetual kiss and one of "the most romantic spot in America."
Anaheim, California

Disneyland's Club 33

The hidden jewel of Disneyland: a members only playground for the Disney elite.
Los Angeles, California

Great Wall of Los Angeles

One of the world's longest murals depicts the history of diversity in Los Angeles.
Palomar Mountain, California

Palomar Observatory

A world-class observatory in the California desert.
Garden Grove, California

Christ Cathedral (Crystal Cathedral)

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

Gilroy Gardens

Home to the "Circus" trees created by Axel Erlandson.
San Jose, California

Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum

An extensive collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts and mummies.
Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles Zoo Botanical Gardens

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

Hearst Castle

The unbelievably opulent home built for an infamous newspaperman.
San Francisco, California

Palace of Fine Arts

The last remaining relic of San Francisco's glittering 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition.
San Francisco, California

Exploratorium

San Francisco's newly reopened hands-on science museum.
Humboldt County, California

Avenue of the Giants

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

La Brea Tar Pits Dragonfly Fossils

These delicate buggers are some of the rarest fossils that have bubbled up from the Tar Pits.
San Francisco, California

Japanese Tea Garden

Relics of the 1894 Midwinter Exposition continue to delight visitors today.
Los Angeles, California

Hollywood Sign

Hollywood's most famous landmark, the "temporary" sign that has stood for decades longer than intended.
San Francisco, California

Alcatraz Island

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

The Winchester Mystery House

A peculiar mansion built by the troubled heir to the Winchester Rifle Company fortune.