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

An abandoned Jazz Age dream home and con man's hideout in Death Valley.

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

A massive hydrovolcanic explosion left a half-mile wide crater in Death Valley.

A hard-to-reach oasis in a desolate corner of Death Valley National Park.

Water of undetermined depth has attracted rare fish and cult leaders alike.

The lowest point in North America is home to an undrinkable pool surrounded by fields of geometric salt flats.

Coastal dunes, site of buried Egyptian movie set and former utopian colony.

A hotel and restaurant serving as the mecca of kitsch.

Offering commanding views of the California coastline, this restaurant was a hub for the artists and bohemians of Big Sur.

A house built from trash known as the poor man's Hearst Castle.

Machinery left over from California's once thriving mercury industry now attracts artists and explorers.

Rusty industrial city full of oxidized distillation towers.

360-degree virtual reality chamber physically immerses scientists into their data.

The oceanic dumping ground where spaceships go to die.

Once America’s most beautiful army base, this abandoned military fort on the coast of Monterey Bay has been left to the elements.