Smooth basaltic rocks tell a tale of ancient glacial waterfalls.

A speck of nature and art in one of San Francisco’s most notorious neighborhoods.

At this California chicken ranch, four bucks will get you 18 eggs and a chorus of dancing animatronic poultry.

The miraculous hydrant that saved the Mission District in 1906.

Once a place of peaceful repose, this sanitarium now faces an uncertain future.

Ancient human, animal, and geometric figures drawn in the earth.

California's own majestic geyser is powered by a subterranean volcano.

The remains of a 12th-century chapter house in Golden Gate Park.

What began with a single, 357-pound chunk of the Canyon Diablo meteorite grew to be an impressive collection. 

A cozy bookstore is tucked within an old gold mine shaft beneath the cafe and ice cream shop.

Two rocks in a perpetual kiss and one of "the most romantic spot in America."

San Francisco's oldest operating hotel, with a Victorian atmosphere and a "haunted" fourth floor.

The lighthouse central to the 1980s horror classic "The Fog" is, in fact, located in one of the foggiest areas of the Pacific Coast.

A playground built by the kids that is a child's wonderland, and a helicopter parent's nightmare.

The "3rd largest" city in California is an empty mirage of suburbia in the middle of nowhere.

A burnt orange monolithic dome structure perched on a hillside near Interstate 280.

The abandoned train depot now doubles as a well-placed rest stop for those who take the road less traveled.

This old mining town, deep in the California desert, has a year-round population of one.

Since 1973, this block has been home to the most concentrated collection of murals in San Francisco.

The location of the last stand of Charles Manson's doomsday cult.

This residential door allows San Francisco muggles a glimpse at the wizarding world.

This impressive tunnel was dug entirely by hand over the course of 36 years.

A house built from trash known as the poor man's Hearst Castle.

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