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

Medical and zoological curiosities for sale.

Contemporary art inspired by natural history and science drawing on ancient techniques in a modern world.

It should come as no surprise that the best view of the Hollywood sign is from Batman's lair.

An unfortunate geological resemblance to Satan has labeled this Pasadena gorge as a passage to the underworld.

A desert ghost town—occupied for only 12 years—was once home to more than 500 silver mines.

Over one million bird-related artifacts await.

A mysterious and endangered parasitic herb from the California desert.

Finale of "William Tell Overture" can be heard as drivers pass over grooves in the road.

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

Get up close to emus and ostriches, or buy their tasty meat.

One of the most unusual geological features, recognizable from a dozen hit movies.

This impressive tunnel was dug entirely by hand over the course of 36 years.

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

Odd outsider art installations surround a Gold Rush-era ghost town.

A collision of human error and natural geothermal pressure created this rainbow-colored geologic wonder.

A hotel and restaurant serving as the mecca of kitsch.

Only intact Ichthyosaur skeleton in the United States.

Beneath a Virginia City bar is the entrance to an abandoned gold mine.

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

Bits and pieces from the ill-fated Donner Party's winter cabins.

The old Niles Canyon Aqueduct in the San Francisco Bay Area is a bemusing and secret trail through nature for wayward travelers.

The seawater playground of gilded-era San Francisco burned to the ground in 1966.

A 300-ship graveyard, with a few still visible at low tide.