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

A 19th-century cabin built into a hollowed-out Sequoia tree.

Four hundred granite steps were built into this massive rock by the National Park Service.

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

Each year these high desert hills are absolutely covered with poppy flowers in a surreal show of nature.

Hollywood's most famous landmark, the "temporary" sign that has stood for decades longer than intended.

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

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

San Diego's most historic and haunted home.

L. Frank Baum wrote part of the "Wizard of Oz" series in this wooden Victorian beach resort.

The Grand Canyon of Texas.

A collection of 20th-century automata, penny arcade games, and musical contraptions.

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.

Beneath the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge is the “Gibraltar of the West Coast,” a fort built to protect the San Francisco Bay from naval attack.

A peculiar mansion built by the troubled heir to the Winchester Rifle Company fortune.

One of the most elaborate displays of Jellyfish is on display at the aquarium.

An old whaling station now serves to give the public a look at the commercial whaling industry, no longer a part of Monterey's economy.

Where a railroad loops under or over itself to rise or drop more than 70 feet in a short distance.

Thousands of turbines whir at at the origin of North American wind power.

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

The ghost town that ended up on Ebay.

A pair of large white marble lions guard this stretch of the Mojave Desert, and it is utterly mysterious how they got there.

All of the 20 occupied houses in this mostly abandoned town feature some curious display of junk art.

This once-booming Gold Rush town is now home to a herd of feral donkeys.