This former stomping grounds of the most eminent astronomers of the early 20th century.

A classic Route 66 landmark that was built with scrap lumber and is held together with kitsch and puns.

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

This 4,000-foot-diameter hole is touted as "the most well known, best preserved meteorite crater on Earth."

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

A motel dedicated to Southwestern nostalgia.

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

The second-largest cave chamber in the world was discovered in 1898 by a 16-year-old and a friend known as "Pothead."

Explore the largest pure gypsum deposit in the world, and go dune sledding while you're at it.

"the sweltering inhabitants of Charleston and New Orleans, of Madras and Bombay and Calcutta, drink at my well . . . The pure Walden water is mingled with the sacred water of the Ganges."

One of two lighted lanterns hung in the church belfry on the eve of the Revolutionary War to warn that the British were on their way.

According to legend, Bob Dylan sneaks in twice a year to eat dinner with Jack.

The site of one of the strangest disasters in history—a wave of deadly molasses traveling at 35 mph.

The world's largest wooden trestle stretches across this desert canyon in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

Final resting place of one of the classic authors of horror literature.

This small section of the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery is rotten with famous authors' graves.

The history of funerals and funerary customs.

This old mining town, deep in the California desert, has a year-round population of one.

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

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

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

A peculiar mansion built by the troubled heir to the Winchester Rifle Company fortune.

An eclectic trailer park retreat in the middle of the California desert.

An abandoned Jazz Age dream home and con man's hideout in Death Valley.