A hard-to-reach oasis in a desolate corner of Death Valley National Park.

An urban laboratory.

A ghost town that held steady longer than most, but finally gave up the ghost.

One man has installed bathtubs into the Utah desert floor to harness the powers of a natural hot spring.

Founded by members of the Tohono O’odham Nation, this one-room joint's James Beard–winning fry bread is light as a cloud.

Open since 1938, this diner has kept its fountain, malt machine, and all the gum that greasers left beneath its counter.

In this small Phoenix taxidermy emporium, you can find everything from a squid in a jar to a freeze-dried toad.

This striking public art installation is suspended above a public park, designed to gently move in the breeze.

The installation’s official name, “You Who Are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies,” says it all.

A self-built castle made by a mysterious man.

Once the product of an inexplicable gold strike, this ghost town is now home to one man and his love of classic machines.

On the outskirts of a reborn ghost town, a decaying post office remembers the bad old days.

Ninety feet off the valley floor is an ancient dwelling put under protection of the U.S. government by Teddy Roosevelt.

A spiritual vortex among the red rocks in Sedona.

A pair of giant roadside arrows are all that remains of a former Route 66 trading post.

This small patch of land is the final resting for these communication relics of the past.

Tacoma’s 25-foot coffee pot music spot has served up over 80 years of concrete kitsch.

A remote desert lookout offers unparalleled views of the California badlands for those who brave the trek.

Along a California highway is a kind of Jurassic Park made of metal.

“It's the quality” (but probably also the drive-through donut tunnel) that has attracted diners since 1968.

Despite repeated attempts to make it work, this former mining town is now nothing but dust and memories.

A waterfall 600 ft. inside a mountain, once the bane of gold miners, is now a spectacle of nature.

The highest point in South Dakota contains the ashes of Valentine McGillycuudy, the "Holy White Man."

The deserted railroad town had a last gasp as a ghost town attraction before being abandoned for good.