Happy harbor seals frolic and snooze on this warm, sandy stretch of coast.

A hotel and restaurant serving as the mecca of kitsch.

A massive volcanic plug is now a protected area that hosts a number of bird species.

A house built from trash known as the poor man's Hearst Castle.

The unbelievably opulent home built for an infamous newspaperman.

This stretch of beach along California's central coast is a busy highway for the largest seal in the northern hemisphere.

This Big Sur waterfall drops 80 feet directly into the Pacific Ocean, and inspired the hillside house up top.

Life in this isolated, hilltop lighthouse was lonely, but it sure was lovely.

Haunting and beautiful trees, doomed to die.

Two rocks in a perpetual kiss and one of "the most romantic spot in America."

One of the most elaborate displays of Jellyfish is on display at the aquarium.

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."

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

A "gravitational anomaly" located in the redwood forests just outside of Santa Cruz, California.

The huge granite obelisk that towers over a small California town.

A glimpse into the lives of the the Miwok and Paiute people in Yosemite National Park.

The interior of the Overlook Hotel in "The Shining" was based on this Yosemite original.

Aqueducts have dramatically changed this old lake, now home to tufa towers and its very own species of tiny brine shrimp.

A natural dome made of volcanic glass in Inyo National Forest.

This naturally heated mountainous creek has created a group of neon blue pools of potentially deadly boiling water.

A massive hydrovolcanic explosion left a half-mile wide crater in Death Valley.

This crumbling Death Valley mining complex was known for its use of giant, 20-mule team wagons.

Marta Becket's hand-painted theater in the desert.

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