This rock formation named for its unique shape is one of many that call the Alabama Hills home.

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

A lawless town deep in Death Valley was famous for its riches and death rate.

Smooth basaltic rocks tell a tale of ancient glacial waterfalls.

This unique graffiti art from the 1940s has become a staple of this local landscape in the remote California desert.

This sun-scorched lakebed contains samples of half the natural elements known to humankind.

A mountain range on an active U.S. Navy base hides thousands of mysterious prehistoric rock carvings.

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.

"Only the devil could play golf here."

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

Canyon walls shrouded in ferns.

This Taoist temple is the oldest continuously used Chinese temple in California.

A Tibetan Temple and Buddhist organization just off the beaten path in Northern California.

This little museum has an exhibit devoted to the elusive forest denizens.

A simple plaque remembers a California island massacre that claimed more than 100 lives.

A crumbling wizard is one of the final reminders of a roadside Middle Earth.

An optical illusion found amid a logged redwood forest.

A grove of "candelabra redwoods" deep in California's Lost Coast.

Supposed Massachusetts Grave of a pre-Columbus Knight Templar.

The largest Star Wars collection in the world is its own galaxy of collectibles.

In the middle of an extremely unforgiving and desolate high desert is the most secret military facility in the world.

An abandoned whaling station on an active volcano offers hot springs in Antarctica, surrounded by ruined giants of industry.

A tribute to one man's legacy of improving the accordion's reputation.