Four hundred granite steps were built into this massive rock by the National Park Service.

This tiny cluster of abandoned buildings looks like the future of the ghost town - today!

Once thought to be the oldest living tree in the world, Methuselah was germinated before the Egyptian pyramids were built.

A local dialect born in the late 19th century is only spoken in this isolated California valley.

This Nevada lake holds its titular natural pyramid and, if the legends are true, a number of dangerous spirits.

Hidden inside a gift shop that doubles as a museum, this gargantuan yo-yo can only be operated by crane.

A unique museum where guests can rent and operate a locomotive.

The only surviving prototype of Buckminster Fuller's revolutionary car.

Eons old volcanic activity created one of the most stunning rock formations in the United States.

Despite being a perfectly pleasant place to be, Loyalton can't seem to attract any visitors.

The smallest country in the world.

A Wild West saloon that helped define a generation of psychedelic rock.

This Gold Rush ghost town was once the subject of a territorial dispute between California and Nevada.

An abandoned cyanide mill is now a haunting magnet for graffiti and illegal parties.

A fire lookout atop a glacial pinnacle is reached by climbing three vertiginous flights of stairs.

Towering basalt columns, a creation of fire and ice.

This historic estate on the east shore of Lake Tahoe was home to an eccentric millionaire (and his pet elephant, Mingo).

California's first suspension bridge.

The now-abandoned tunnels were built for the transcontinental railroad on the route where the first wagon train entered California.

An ever-updating collection of retro Americana.

A dwindling menagerie of anthropomorphic oil derrick animals still dot the barren California landscape.

The interior of the Overlook Hotel in "The Shining" was based on this Yosemite original.

A glimpse into the lives of the the Miwok and Paiute people in Yosemite National Park.

The tallest bridge in California was constructed for a project that was eventually cancelled.