More than 700 species live within this murky marvel of a swamp on California's coast.

A giant can of fruit cocktail is all that remains of what was once the world's largest cannery.

This tall and trim architectural oddity is one of the skinniest buildings in San Francisco.

Get lost in this haunting fairytale art walk through a man-made eucalyptus grove.

A hardware store Buddha statue installed to deter vandalism wound up attracting Vietnamese immigrants who came to pray.

Since World War II people have been decorating this stretch of the Yuma desert with signatures arranged out of rocks.

This “living museum” at UCLA exhibits thousands of plant species from all over the world.

A classically inspired temple in Redwood City.

A museum, art project, and institution that demands we look at the world around us in a strange new way.

A working miniature city designed to teach kids about safety and presumably city planning.

This abandoned motel doesn't welcome guests anymore, but decay and a creepy atmosphere still call it home.

Crumbling pink walls and murder memorials preserve the pioneer history of Joshua Tree.

A small sculpture garden that provides a microcosmic representation of California.

This museum boasts the ninth-largest collection of insects in North America.

The tragedy of the Japanese internment camps is remembered here by a stark "Soul Consoling Tower."

An ultra-modern vista that has been featured in so many films the house is a celebrity in its own right.

The illuminating collection of L.A. street lights is run by the city and only opens one day per month.

The highest dunes in California are the most likely place in the area to hear the Singing Sands.

The lowest point in North America is home to an undrinkable pool surrounded by fields of geometric salt flats.

A phenomenal assembly of pueblos in New Mexico is the most complete example of ancient ruins north of the border.

This lake in the Cascades lives up to its name, disappearing down a hole every spring.

A meditative space out of a fantasy story.

See massive fossils that are over 200 million years old in northeastern Arizona.

Giant, natural amphitheaters made of delicate geological formations called "hoodoos."