This small shack near the entrance to Sequoia National Park has been in almost continuous operation for the last century.

Smooth basaltic rocks tell a tale of ancient glacial waterfalls.

These millipedes glow not out of attraction, but as a not-too-subtle warning.

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

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

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

A lawless town deep in Death Valley was famous for its riches and death rate.

The hundreds of movies and television shows shot in this high desert town are commemorated in a unique museum.

This rock formation named for its unique shape is one of many that call the Alabama Hills home.

The first life claimed by this record-breaking peak wasn't lost to exposure or a fall but rather lightning.

The smallest country in the world.

These once-beautiful historic graveyards are set against the barren Virginia City hills.

Back in the day everyone who was anyone played this historic western theater.

Beneath a Virginia City bar is the entrance to an abandoned gold mine.

The ruins of a military outpost from the 1860s form the centerpiece of a Nevada state park.

Historic home to one of the most famous women pioneers of the 19th century.

A breathtaking 19th-century trail overlooks Lake Tahoe.

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

An abandoned cyanide mill is now a haunting magnet for graffiti and illegal parties.

An old-timey medicine shop that once served Chinese laborers during the Gold Rush is still open for business to this day.

A charming desert roadside bakery that produces 10 times more bread daily than it has residents in its town.

One woman's Viking Castle on Lake Tahoe.

Its dark depths conceal millions of rare, delicate crystal formations.

For decades, the largest tungsten producer in the U.S. was located in a spectacular setting in the high Sierra Nevada, with some of the workings over 11,000 feet.