An optical illusion found amid a logged redwood forest.

One of the most scenic stretches of road in America winds between some of the country's oldest trees.

Home of what was the largest hydraulic mine in the world, producing gold and the first diamonds in the U.S.

Sunset-colored dunes of volcanic ash make taking a poor photo impossible.

The long, arduous journey of the stones of the Abbey of New Clairvaux.

This lesser known Hearst estate is a fairytale village built from the stolen bones of historic European buildings.

"Only the devil could play golf here."

A popular tourist cave with a dark past.

Smooth basaltic rocks tell a tale of ancient glacial waterfalls.

Travelers leave tea kettles in a remote part of Death Valley as part of a mysterious, decades-old tradition.

Hidden beneath a lake for decades, this brutalist mine has now emerged from beneath the receding waters.

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

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

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

Towering basalt columns, a creation of fire and ice.

This historic California cemetery holds the bodies of veterans of both the Civil War and the Donner Party.

Nursery with extensive collection of flesh-eating plants operated by the author of "The Savage Garden."

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

The largest drain hole in the world.

The remains of a deserted steamboat sit rusting beside an old ferry pier and an abandoned train platform.

Junkbots and mud babies are the masterpieces in this fantastically sci-fi art museum.

The haunting ruins of Jack London's dream house.

The timepiece that exonerated a labor radical accused of a parade bombing that killed ten people.

An underground mansion with fruit-bearing trees and grapes growing beneath the surface of central California.