Quite simply the largest tree in the world (by volume).

A herd of 150 bison live on California's Santa Catalina Island and are at the heart of an ongoing debate between environmental protection and economic expansion.

Resting place of Hollywood's immortals is also site of summer film screenings.

Where the alchemists dream of transmuting base metal into gold was actually achieved.

Towering basalt columns, a creation of fire and ice.

Standing in a state of "arrested decay," this ghost town allows for a detailed peek into Gold Rush life in an unusually harsh climate.

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

Faceless white figures loom over the city from the rooftop.

Staircase winds down the side of Telegraph Hill through gardens, wild parrots flying overhead.

This famous bridge twisted itself into oblivion, but not for the reason you might think.

The world's smallest park was dedicated in 1948 as the only colony for leprechauns west of Ireland.

A crumbling Beaux Arts monument to the Bay Area's age of rail.

This Oakland fairytale kingdom, fiercely devoted to childlike whimsy, was an early inspiration for Disneyland.

An art collective teaching the more fiery, metal-y art forms.

An abandoned convention space that has been left to the homeless and the radical.

This mysterious series of teeny guerrilla installations sheds a whimsical light on street art in Oakland.

Bonsai garden in Oakland is curated by the first non-Japanese female bonsai master in the United States.

A nondescript building that's been functioning as a speakeasy for nearly a century and a half.

Once the largest windmill outside of Holland, with enormous 114 foot sails.

Depicting scenes of everyday life - and specific individuals - in Great Depression era San Francisco.

In this century-old literary safehouse, print is alive and well.

Only hotel where you can legally launder money.

These subterranean storage areas hold emergency water reserves.

Dive bar built out of the remains of a whaling ship.