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

One of the most scenic stretches of road in America winds between some of the country's oldest trees.

The one-time watch house for incoming ships at the Golden Gate now stands abandoned and hidden in trees.

This serene oasis in an affluent Los Angeles neighborhood holds some of Gandhi's ashes and got Elvis into Eastern Philosophy.

One man's vast collection of artifacts and ephemera from matchbooks and postcards to vintage neon signs and cars.

Carved by a waterfall in a hard-to-reach rock formation, this heart-shaped rock has inspired romantics for decades.

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

Scores of vintage street lamps shine along L.A.’s Miracle Mile.

Panorama exhibition hall in old silent theater with a beautiful backyard garden.

San Francisco's newly reopened hands-on science museum.

A look into the Church of Scientology's deeply unfavorable view of psychiatry.

Established in the '60s, a family-owned tropical drink bar founded by Ray Buhen, bartender to the stars.

World-famous, Pink's still manages to keep its prized cult fetish status.

The private clubhouse for the members of the Academy of Magical Arts.

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

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

A hotel and restaurant serving as the mecca of kitsch.

An underground mansion with fruit-bearing trees and grapes growing beneath the surface of central California.

A castle that was built stone by stone by an eccentric journalist.

This strange seaside tower got its name from a wealthy eccentric who would hide coins among its stones.

A strange house built only at night, with rumored mystic inspiration.

Olfactory delights in San Francisco's Botanical Gardens.

Rainbow-hued local gem in Venice.

Relics of the 1894 Midwinter Exposition continue to delight visitors today.