A historic hotel in an old California railroad town with a rowdy reputation.

Salt is slowly eating away this abandoned saltworks town in the desert.

The liveliest ghost town in the state.

This impressive tunnel was dug entirely by hand over the course of 36 years.

The old Niles Canyon Aqueduct in the San Francisco Bay Area is a bemusing and secret trail through nature for wayward travelers.

Neither Spanish settlers nor anyone since has been able to tell who built these strange California rock walls.

A ruined hotel with an unlucky history and an eerie present.

This sun-scorched lakebed contains samples of half the natural elements known to humankind.

Sunset-colored dunes of volcanic ash make taking a poor photo impossible.

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

Before it was abandoned and left to rust alongside the road, this riverboat starred in a John Wayne movie.

Smooth basaltic rocks tell a tale of ancient glacial waterfalls.

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

Once the largest town in eastern Yuba County now sits abandoned.

Water of undetermined depth has attracted rare fish and cult leaders alike.

Four hundred granite steps were built into this massive rock by the National Park Service.

A 19th-century cabin built into a hollowed-out Sequoia tree.

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

A watering hole where the options for seating include a bar, patio, or subterranean cave.

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

Hidden beneath a lake for decades, this brutalist mine has now emerged from beneath the receding waters.

Its dark depths conceal millions of rare, delicate crystal formations.

A lawless town deep in Death Valley was famous for its riches and death rate.

Downieville's largest Gold Rush structure still standing has one of the longest bars in California.