This hidden fire lookout offers spectacular views of Sequoia National Park.

These millipedes glow not out of attraction, but as a not-too-subtle warning.

The location of the last stand of Charles Manson's doomsday cult.

The liveliest ghost town in the state.

Ten 25-foot-tall, beehive-shaped kilns, abandoned in Death Valley.

Towering basalt columns, a creation of fire and ice.

This naturally heated mountainous creek has created a group of neon blue pools of potentially deadly boiling water.

One of the most unusual geological features, recognizable from a dozen hit movies.

This old mining town, deep in the California desert, has a year-round population of one.

This desert oddity hides in plain sight thanks to a cartographic error and a desert explorer with a punny sense of humor.

Travelers leave tea kettles in a remote part of Death Valley as part of a mysterious, decades-old tradition.

The rocks in this arid basin leave trails of movement behind them.

One of the last free public hot springs is decorated with hippie art.

Smooth basaltic rocks tell a tale of ancient glacial waterfalls.

A hard-to-reach oasis in a desolate corner of Death Valley National Park.

The interior of the Overlook Hotel in "The Shining" was based on this Yosemite original.

Under the right circumstances, this waterfall in Yosemite briefly turns a luminescent fiery orange.

A glimpse into the lives of the the Miwok and Paiute people in Yosemite National Park.

A small sculpture garden that provides a microcosmic representation of California.

The site of murders and Satanic cult gatherings.