This giant temperature attraction created some giant electric bills.

This large pile of traveler-curated rocks by the dry lakebed is a longstanding tradition on the Old Mojave Road.

One of the ghostly stops along Route 66.

A collection of anti-communist sculptures stands watch in the Mojave Desert.

This unique graffiti art from the 1940s has become a staple of this local landscape in the remote California desert.

One of the most unusual geological features, recognizable from a dozen hit movies.

This sun-scorched lakebed contains samples of half the natural elements known to humankind.

The liveliest ghost town in the state.

Where NASA's satellites and rovers phone home.

The cluster of boulders near Fort Irwin is covered in military insignia.

Nationwide network of co-ownership underground catastrophe shelters.

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

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

Abandoned hotel with adjacent lake and golf course.

Everything you always wanted to know about borates is here.

One of the last free public hot springs is decorated with hippie art.

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

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

This massive statue of John Muir on the side of a California highway was carved from a redwood tree.

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

Standing in a state of "arrested decay," this ghost town allows for a detailed peek into Gold Rush life in an unusually harsh climate.

A natural dome made of volcanic glass in Inyo National Forest.

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

After the nearby mercury mine shut down, this town was abandoned and declared a Superfund site.