A remote desert lookout offers unparalleled views of the California badlands for those who brave the trek.

This futuristic bridge is one of the longest self-anchored pedestrian bridges in the world.

A giant can of fruit cocktail is all that remains of what was once the world's largest cannery.

A life-sized mammoth sculpture marks the spot where the remains of a Columbian mammoth were discovered in 2005.

Prone to disastrous fires, the city of San Francisco has the Guardian, a fireboat gifted by residents, to watch over them from the bay.

Approximately 250,000 people left homeless by the great earthquake and fires found shelter in Golden Gate Park.

A Masterpiece with a Tragic History.

Museum dedicated to the preservation of surf culture.

Not truly a ship nor a building, the Navy's first and last "landship" is now abandoned due to clerical issues.

A sculpture of the famous photograph stands on San Diego's "Greatest Generation Walk."

The California capital city once stood 10 feet lower than it does today.

In the days before HD projectors and IMAX, some of the most powerful projectors belonged to planetariums.

27-room home built with the fortune of a sugar magnate.

This Pringle-shaped ledge makes for the perfect photo op.

North America's largest accredited model railroad museum.

The most popular attraction in Southern California was once a flock of ornery bipedal birds that pulled carts.

A Biblically-based Natural History Museum.

A pier that used to act as a busy ferry dock is now a decaying favorite of local fisherman and urban artists.

An alley covered with 20 years of bubble gum.

Recovered from the brink of extinction, at home in the Financial District.

From the Difference Engine to the Cray-1, all under one roof.

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

This large collection of tiny things revels in the art of fine machinery well made.

This little blue house pokes out over the campus of UC San Diego, seven stories high.