Hike amid the palm trees that thrive among Southern California's Indio Hills.

The ghostly remains of an accidental sea.

World's largest collection devoted to one fruit.

These lush groves of fan palms rise up like oases out of southern California's Colorado Desert.

A monument to a one-legged kidnapper, horse thief, and charlatan asks visitors to throw rocks in a pile.

Along a California highway is a kind of Jurassic Park made of metal.

Version of the French Riviera destroyed by the sea.

Huge otherworldly domed rocks on the shore of a deadly lake.

The sea once considered an ecological wasteland is now called "crown jewel of avian biodiversity" by scientists.

At this deceptively beautiful beach, nothing is what it seems.

Erroneously called the world's tallest flagpole, this landmark is devoted to "good neighborliness."

Burping, gurgling geothermal mud pots by the Salton Sea.

An off-grid art installation that encourages its visitors to imagine a world without waste.

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

This abandoned Navy base was transformed into an off-grid alternative living community for thousands of people.

A strange mishmash of ruins and abandoned structures hint at the park's many lives.

An Old West film set seen in countless TV shows and movies is open for the public to explore.

The beloved dining spot stands at the cross-section of Hollywood and the Old West.

A fake town founded by Western movie stars is now becoming a hip desert community.

A music-filled, booze-soaked oasis in the desert.

On a barren hillside in the Yucca Valley, the recently restored Desert Christ Park has attracted pilgrims and kitsch hunters for over 50 years.

A meditative space out of a fantasy story.

Located on 420 acres in the high desert, this spiritual center is dedicated to the "science of the future."

While exploring the desert, you can stop by the home of a fictional heretic from a parallel universe.