A massive hydrovolcanic explosion left a half-mile wide crater in Death Valley.

The second building of its name to occupy this location might be the finest flatiron building in San Francisco.

This strangely vacant Western amusement seems to be an empty tribute to residents of Lucerne Valley.

Hiding amid the largest camellia collection in the country lies a charming children's maze, donated by a secret admirer.

This "synagogue" is not what it seems to be.

27-room home built with the fortune of a sugar magnate.

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

A beloved carnival gets a modern makeover in Los Angeles.

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

A ring of creosote bushes that are estimated to be 11,700 years old.

Hand-crafted tributes to a stray cat named "Room 8" now cover this LA elementary school.

The first life claimed by this record-breaking peak wasn't lost to exposure or a fall but rather lightning.

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

Honoring the famed folktale author, this California museum looks like it belongs in the Black Forest.

Junkbots and mud babies are the masterpieces in this fantastically sci-fi art museum.

About 80% of all U.S. avocados are descendants of Rudolph Hass's glorious tree.

International delicatessen has been owned and operated by the same family for more than 110 years.

Room 32 of the Alta Cienega Motel has grown into a shrine to the Lizard King.

This dormant volcanic crater has been converted from a roiling pit of magma to a pleasant hiking spot.

San Francisco's oldest operating hotel, with a Victorian atmosphere and a "haunted" fourth floor.

Art from the latest counter-culture; kids who dye their hair blue and believe the future will be a post-apocalyptic water world.

Fonts are born and bred here at the oldest letterpress type foundry in the United States.

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

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