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

An artsy hidden staircase leads to breathtaking views of San Francisco.

Outside San Francisco lies a small clown cemetery and memorial.

This historic estate on the east shore of Lake Tahoe was home to an eccentric millionaire (and his pet elephant, Mingo).

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

Statues of Ramona Quimby, Henry Huggins, and Ribsy the dog in the park where their adventures "really happened."

Fans of vintage Vegas, kitsch, and toy pony-based gambling now flock to a casino called The D.

An art collective teaching the more fiery, metal-y art forms.

This rare example of a "tidefall" is a spectacular drop from the cliffs down onto the beach.

The unbelievably opulent home built for an infamous newspaperman.

This naturally heated mountainous creek has created a group of neon blue pools of potentially deadly boiling water.

Historic funicular railway, believed to be the shortest railroad in the world.

A nondescript building that's been functioning as a speakeasy for nearly a century and a half.

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

Quite simply the largest tree in the world (by volume).

A walk-in working camera obscura produces 360-degree live images of the San Francisco coast.

A museum befitting the city responsible for supplying the majority of the world's LSD.

Its buzzing collection honors vibrator history.

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

One man has installed bathtubs into the Utah desert floor to harness the powers of a natural hot spring.

Come for the speed, leave in love with the desert.

Mine your own precious stones.

Once thought to be the oldest living tree in the world, Methuselah was germinated before the Egyptian pyramids were built.

Eons old volcanic activity created one of the most stunning rock formations in the United States.