San Francisco's urban bison herd has persisted in the face of extinction, development, and disease.

Staircase winds down the side of Telegraph Hill through gardens, wild parrots flying overhead.

This bank is widely believed to be the inspiration for the offices of Philip Marlowe, the hardboiled detective featured in a number of Raymond Chandler's stories.

This nondescript tunnel has been featured in a number of iconic movies, from “Roger Rabbit” to “Back to the Future.”

The mall's looks were inspired by the cowboy extras who used to meet up—and cause real trouble—at this Hollywood hub.

This centerpiece of the Hollywood & Highland shopping center is a recreation of a long-lost movie set.

The decor of this Hollywood movie palace just barely predated the opening of King Tut's tomb.

An historic and oft-filmed spot for musclebound iron pumpers on the Pacific coast.

The blinking light atop the iconic landmark has been sending secret messages for decades.

An iconic location along the Los Angeles River where countless movie scenes are filmed.

This Hollywood dive houses a mural painted by the artists who animated its namesake film.

Hollywood's oldest hotel is the site of the first Academy Awards, the birthplace of Marilyn Monroe's career, and the home of Montgomery Clift's ghost.

Two men, two visionaries of Venice Beach, one little hotel that smells like cookies.

This forgotten Frank Lloyd Wright house is an architectural marvel at the end of a sleepy residential street.

L.A.'s oldest operating bowling alley is a beautifully restored homage to its speakeasy days.

This star-studded Old Hollywood restaurant is where fettuccine Alfredo made its United States debut.

The L.A. Zoo has a secret garden of rare bootleg cycads, a palm specimen dating back 280 million years.

This brightly made over hotel hides decades of suicide, serial killers, and mysterious deaths.

The private clubhouse for the members of the Academy of Magical Arts.

World-famous, Pink's still manages to keep its prized cult fetish status.

These delicate buggers are some of the rarest fossils that have bubbled up from the Tar Pits.

This weird abode has inspired everything from the "House On Haunted Hil" to a robot hunter's pad.

Hollywood's most famous landmark, the "temporary" sign that has stood for decades longer than intended.

America's most famous piece of self-built architecture.