One of the oldest reform schools in the United States, home to wayward boys such as Merle Haggard, now abandoned.

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

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

Acres of natural wonders left behind by a socialite-turned-gardener.

The now-abandoned tunnels were built for the transcontinental railroad on the route where the first wagon train entered California.

This hilltop park offers magnificent views and a Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece.

Stroll the grounds built by murder, suicide, and dirty oil money at one of Hollywood's most filmed mansions.

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

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

This rare example of a "tidefall" is a spectacular drop from the cliffs down onto the beach.

San Francisco Bay's ghost town.

In a city filled with Frank Gehry buildings, one stands out as one of the architect's weirder works.

Big gun installations, built over a massive cemetery, now abandoned & hidden in trees.

The ghost town that ended up on Ebay.

After starting as a whimsical tourist attraction that eventually found its way to ruin, these renovated canals offer a lush and exotic locale on the Pacific Coast.

Visible below the waves are memorials to the city's Gold Rush dead.

A spiritual retreat in the heart of Los Angeles offers stunning gardens and a labyrinth to lose yourself in.

A look into the Church of Scientology's deeply unfavorable view of psychiatry.

A hospital closed seemingly in the middle of operations, leaving behind fodder for horror films and ghost hunters.

A hand-built folk art installation covered with messages of God's love.

America's most famous piece of self-built architecture.

The abandoned zoo enclosures offer a perfect place to experience the other side of the bars.

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

Non-profit time travel mart sells goods you would need for a trip through the fourth dimension.