Towering basalt columns, a creation of fire and ice.

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

A century and a half of research in the sciences and natural history, still going strong.

The key to turning shifting dunes into the green oasis of Golden Gate Park.

Faceless white figures loom over the city from the rooftop.

Recovered from the brink of extinction, at home in the Financial District.

The remains of a 12th-century chapter house in Golden Gate Park.

Golden Gate Park's historic collection of plants.

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

San Francisco's urban bison herd has persisted in the face of extinction, development, and disease.

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

San Francisco's newly reopened hands-on science museum.

Relics of the 1894 Midwinter Exposition continue to delight visitors today.

Olfactory delights in San Francisco's Botanical Gardens.

There's nothing creepier than a cemetery next to a clown motel.

An errant donkey ushered in a new era of mining in Nevada.

This once bustling boomtown hotel is now the hottest spot in Nevada for ghost hunters.

Graffiti, cars, and religion combine to create this jungle of scrap in the Nevada desert.

This Old West eatery along America's Loneliest Road was originally a stop on the Pony Express.

This cave was hidden for thousands of years, storing the worldly goods of ancient Native Americans.

Singing sand that stands as the final remains of an ancient lake.

A land of debatable treasure.

A brothel nestled amongst ghost towns, with an abandoned plane wreck to greet you.

The most magnificent bottle house in a town strangely full of them.