This perfectly preserved Chinese medicine shop was untouched for decades before being reopened as a museum.

During its heyday, 72 one-ton buckets from this dredge bore into the Powder River excavating vast gold deposits.

This massive mushroom has spent centuries eating its way across a huge swath of Oregon.

A small section of Boise, Idaho maintains the unique culture and traditions of the Basque people.

These black pillars of volcanic basalt seem to call mountain climbers with an unbreakable siren song.

When in Idaho, sleep in a giant potato.

Rare and gorgeous birds abound in this protected wildlife sanctuary.

Three generations of intrepid collectors display their curious artifacts in a homemade museum right next to the caves they discovered.

Home to the deepest rift anywhere on Earth.

An ill-fated attempt to grow wheat in the sagebrush steppe of northeastern Nevada.

The disdain for this dysfunctional dam is reflected in a giant pair of scissors painted on the concrete face.

This ramshackle ghost town is comprised of mining-era buildings collected from around the region.

This Roman underground canal was the longest tunnel ever built until the late 19th-century.

This towering volcanic plug stands out among the dramatic formations that dot this otherworldly desert valley.

Seemingly grown on some other world, these New Mexico rock formations look like a disused science fiction set.

One of the American Southwest's most extensive collections of Navajo rock art.

The land is full of geologic eye candy, such as otherworldly spires, mushroom-shaped hoodoos, and prehistoric fossils.

This abandoned mine offers a glimpse at what life was like for those who came to Alaska seeking Gold Rush riches.

A once grand hotel is being retaken by the wilderness it once capitalized on.

This eye-popping Icelandic crater lake is surrounded by red volcanic rock.

Countless grotesque faces stare out from this eerie Prague art wall.

Fifty years after a “blast blasted blubber beyond all believable bounds,” this idyllic natural area commemorates the carnage.

It was an experiment to prove that glacial boulders and rocks can be used in constructions and dwelling.

This unassuming layer of clay boasts an out-of-this-world origin story.