A common entry point to the Griffith Observatory trail holds its own wonders.

The ruins of the castle that chemicals built.

A fake town founded by Western movie stars is now becoming a hip desert community.

A volcanic tunnel illuminated by natural skylights offers a shaded respite from the desert sun.

This partially buried wreck is one of the most complete of its kind but is only revealed when the sea allows.

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

The stones that traveled from Spain to eventually become a holy place for San Francisco's nature worshippers.

A regular looking rock with an unbelievable history.

A Barbary Coast watering hole built into a Gold Rush shipwreck.

The liveliest ghost town in the state.

A desert ghost town—occupied for only 12 years—was once home to more than 500 silver mines.

Life in this isolated, hilltop lighthouse was lonely, but it sure was lovely.

An overlooked and unassuming engineering marvel.

This turn of the century masterpiece has a mysterious goaty interloper.

The highest dunes in California are the most likely place in the area to hear the Singing Sands.

The most unique castle in all of Southern California, entirely constructed from repurposed materials.

Neither Spanish settlers nor anyone since has been able to tell who built these strange California rock walls.

The now-abandoned tunnels were built for the transcontinental railroad on the route where the first wagon train entered California.

Secret Manor, a house full of legends, the least of which is the haunting of long-deceased ladies of pleasure.

From pre-war whiskey cocktails to prohibition-era speakeasy secrecy, this bar has seen it all.

Commonly referred to as the most photographed Victorian home in the United States.

Rodin's famous depiction of Dante's 'Inferno', amidst a sculpture garden of many of his other works.

One of the last free public hot springs is decorated with hippie art.

One of the oldest reform schools in the United States, home to wayward boys such as Merle Haggard, now abandoned.