A plaque marks a former safe house on the secret route, now hidden next to a McDonald's.

The sign to a demolished amusement park now stands in front of a local library.

A small abandoned and abused cemetery that has become a magnet for ghost hunters.

First planned industrial community in the United States.

Standing in a state of "arrested decay," this ghost town allows for a detailed peek into Gold Rush life in an unusually harsh climate.

Aqueducts have dramatically changed this old lake, now home to tufa towers and its very own species of tiny brine shrimp.

The echoes of a railroad town that solemnly mark the end of the line.

A charming desert roadside bakery that produces 10 times more bread daily than it has residents in its town.

Brightly colored 30-foot-tall totems light up the desert sky just outside Las Vegas.

No one's quite sure why there's a metal megaphone bolted on two rocks in the middle of the Mojave Desert.

In one of the hottest parts of the Mojave Desert, shallow bedrock forces the typically dry Mojave River to the surface in this canyon, providing a vital oasis for humans and wildlife.

Where decommissioned airplanes and helicopters go to become part of Hollywood.

Hundreds of trees made from glass bottles make up this forest on Route 66.

This crumbling Death Valley mining complex was known for its use of giant, 20-mule team wagons.

The location of the last stand of Charles Manson's doomsday cult.

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

Ten 25-foot-tall, beehive-shaped kilns, abandoned in Death Valley.

Everything you always wanted to know about borates is here.

Each year these high desert hills are absolutely covered with poppy flowers in a surreal show of nature.

Where a railroad loops under or over itself to rise or drop more than 70 feet in a short distance.

Thousands of turbines whir at at the origin of North American wind power.

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

Like a kitschy mirage in the Mojave, this eatery serves up classic 50s-style diner meals and a dinosaur sculpture garden.

Abandoned Air Force base that has fallen into disrepair.