Relics of the 1894 Midwinter Exposition continue to delight visitors today.

A shop full of natural curiosities, carnivorous plants, and costumed taxidermied mice.

An essential stop before plundering, BYO Cutlass.

Carnivorous plants, medieval aphrodisiacs, and the largest original wood structure glass conservatory in the western hemisphere.

The seawater playground of gilded-era San Francisco burned to the ground in 1966.

San Francisco's newly reopened hands-on science museum.

A winding path built in secret on the edge of the continent.

A huge musical instrument played by the ocean.

The century-old bell and clock tower at UC Berkeley is the third-tallest in the world, and has fossils.

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

America's most famous piece of self-built architecture.

An old California photo stand has been turned into a shrine to the cozy art of crochet.

This institution collects the history of burlesque dancing with a titillating collection of ephemera and pasties.

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

Eastern zen meets Western grit in these four little trees growing out of a rock on Lake Tahoe’s Nevada shore.

Two mammoth statues inspired by equally tall tales lure tourists to this roadside attraction.

An eatery for UFO seekers on the Extraterrestrial Highway.

The "world's biggest dinosaur" once housed a creationist museum in its abdomen.

This abandoned Navy base was transformed into an off-grid alternative living community for thousands of people.

The ghostly remains of an accidental sea.

Version of the French Riviera destroyed by the sea.

World's largest collection devoted to one fruit.

Odd outsider art installations surround a Gold Rush-era ghost town.

The rocks in this arid basin leave trails of movement behind them.