Abandoned anti-ballistic missile base.

Huge otherworldly domed rocks on the shore of a deadly lake.

This dormant volcanic crater has been converted from a roiling pit of magma to a pleasant hiking spot.

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

Once close to extinction, there is no shortage of elephant seals on the beaches of Año Nuevo State Park.

Its dark depths conceal millions of rare, delicate crystal formations.

A pair of mutilated bronze octopuses slump at the base of the monument honoring California's admission to the U.S.

One of few lasting examples of the brief octagon craze that developed into folly.

A working model of the entire San Francisco Bay and much of the Sacramento River Delta, complete with regular tides that change every 14 minutes.

Hopeless romantics will swoon over the sweet story behind this bright and colorful home.

A dwindling menagerie of anthropomorphic oil derrick animals still dot the barren California landscape.

Alleyway plaque commemorating the death of a fictional character in The Maltese Falcon, not far from the author's home.

A temple devoted to inner esoteric mysteries located in a California commercial strip.

Once America’s most beautiful army base, this abandoned military fort on the coast of Monterey Bay has been left to the elements.

One woman's Viking Castle on Lake Tahoe.

A B&B on a Victorian lighthouse station in San Francisco Bay.

Barely visible foundations remain where Stow Lake’s “observatory” once welcomed visitors.

A brooding mansion of clinker brick stands out among the Victorian houses of Pacific Heights.

Offering commanding views of the California coastline, this restaurant was a hub for the artists and bohemians of Big Sur.

The most beautiful Taco Bell in the world even has surfboard parking.

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

The Hopi-style structure was built by the man who discovered Desert Hot Springs' famous mineral water.

Gold Rush ship-turned-hotel buried underneath San Francisco's financial district.

Hidden in the back of a disused small town hotel is a dive bar shellacked with over a million pennies.