A nursery specializing in strange and beautiful succulents and cacti.

This dark, quiet forest on the outskirts of San Diego is dense with rumor and lore.

Bonsai garden in Oakland is curated by the first non-Japanese female bonsai master in the United States.

Inside an old airplane hangar, friends and strangers alike play on a massive trampoline.

One of the oldest reform schools in the United States, home to wayward boys such as Merle Haggard, now abandoned.

The neighborhood shop is a sort of tiny cactus museum full of exotic specimens you can take home.

Acres of natural wonders left behind by a socialite-turned-gardener.

The "Fun Spot of the Desert" is now a haunting ruin, and a reminder that putting a water park in a desert is a bad idea.

This rare example of a "tidefall" is a spectacular drop from the cliffs down onto the beach.

California's own medieval Italian castle, authentic down to the 300-year-old iron maiden in the dungeon.

This naturally heated mountainous creek has created a group of neon blue pools of potentially deadly boiling water.

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

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

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

Trails through lava-carved tube-caves display sparkling bacteria and a rich history.

Canyon walls shrouded in ferns.

The one-time watch house for incoming ships at the Golden Gate now stands abandoned and hidden in trees.

San Francisco's newly reopened hands-on science museum.

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

Relics of the 1894 Midwinter Exposition continue to delight visitors today.

Get lost in this haunting fairytale art walk through a man-made eucalyptus grove.

Shop selling 500 flavors of soda has something for everyone.

A trash dump made beautiful by nature's power.

A winding path built in secret on the edge of the continent.