The longest continuous lava tube in Oregon.

A roaring, awe-inspiring double cascade of icy water flows through woodland Oregon like something out of a Tolkien novel.

Dentist's hated concrete colossi are now beloved icons of the community.

The Empire Mine is "one of the oldest, largest, deepest, longest and richest gold mines in California."

A trash dump made beautiful by nature's power.

Two mammoth statues inspired by equally tall tales lure tourists to this roadside attraction.

Commonly referred to as the most photographed Victorian home in the United States.

Trails through lava-carved tube-caves display sparkling bacteria and a rich history.

This ultra-modern California span is actually a titanic solar clock in disguise built by famed architect Santiago Calatrava.

Thanks to a quirk of elevation this gift shop produces magic doughnuts that are found nowhere else on Earth.

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

Once strictly off-limits, this lower level housing curious and priceless vehicles of the Petersen Automotive Museum is now open to the public.

After starting as a whimsical tourist attraction that eventually found its way to ruin, these renovated canals offer a lush and exotic locale on the Pacific Coast.

Shop selling 500 flavors of soda has something for everyone.

A decommissioned Naval base now rents itself out for people who want to blow stuff up.

The newsstand that never closes its doors—well, almost never.

This Oakland fairytale kingdom, fiercely devoted to childlike whimsy, was an early inspiration for Disneyland.

A 90-acre park on former landfill that hosts an annual kite festival.

A man-made island in scenic San Francisco Bay.

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.

Abandoned landscape once home to "the world's largest winery."

Once the largest winery in the world, this castle-like building now sits abandoned on the San Pablo/San Francisco Bay shore.

An "anarchical" no man's land, complete with garbage sculptures and a hobo-run "Landfillian Library."

Thousands of crosses and markers for soldiers who lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan blanket a California hillside.