Eastern zen meets Western grit in these four little trees growing out of a rock on Lake Tahoe’s Nevada shore.

A gothic palace of endless stalagmites and pseudoscorpions waits within one of the world's most beautiful caves.

Beneath a Virginia City bar is the entrance to an abandoned gold mine.

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

These huge stone ovens in the desert fueled the Nevada silver boom, and may have also been a hideout for outlaws.

Enormous piles of historically significant stones, dumped by Congress in a forest, and abandoned for 60 years.

This renaissance château was home to an infamous witch hunter who sent a hundred suspected witches to their deaths.

Manhattan’s Battery Park has a whimsical carousel full of spinning, glowing fish.

The deepest sinkhole in Central Europe comes with a grisly tale and an unusual nickname: “The Stepmother Abyss.”

This ancient theater, restored in the 20th century, lives on as a venue for dramatic and musical performances.

One man has installed bathtubs into the Utah desert floor to harness the powers of a natural hot spring.

This monster board rode a monster wave to break two world records.

This Parisian fountain is a little bit fantasy and a little bit nightclub.

This private island is still in the family after a 400-year history including a witch hunt and a pirate.

It should come as no surprise that the world's largest artichoke lies in the town that calls itself the "Artichoke Center of the World."

A museum where visitors can learn about greyhounds and (more importantly) pet them.

A winged-helmed, sword-brandishing tribute to German Americans.

A vast, otherworldly collection of Buddhist stupas.

Florida's first suspension bridge.

The so-called "world's shortest river" is actually a window into a cave.

After hundreds of years of settlement, this once-bustling fishing village sunk into the Chesapeake Bay.

This simple Manhattan salt house is artfully shaped... well, like a giant granule of salt.

These stairs were built to accommodate royals mounted on elephants.

This raised bulls-eye visible from space was the subject of an intense geologic controversy.