A sign at the end of the Santa Monica Pier marks the traditional end of the legendary American highway.

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

Hidden in the Santa Ynez Mountains off Highway 154, this tiny restaurant once served as a stagecoach stop.

Colorful Native American paintings are hidden within this small cavern.

Hopeless romantics will swoon over the sweet story behind this bright and colorful home.

Two rocks in a perpetual kiss and one of "the most romantic spot in America."

Honoring the famed folktale author, this California museum looks like it belongs in the Black Forest.

Mysterious stone tower featured in many alternative histories of the New World.

This blue behemoth of a bear is a colorful homage to Brown University's mascot.

A giant green dragon crawls down from the roof of the Providence Children's Museum.

Rumors of the occult haunt this upscale 1920s hotel.

A 19th century library favored by Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft, known by locals as "the Ath."

An optical illusion found amid a logged redwood forest.

A raised boardwalk winds through a thicket of stunted, century-old trees no more than nine feet tall.

Celebrating the transformation of trash into objects of beauty.

The mysterious round rocks of Schooner Gulch.

This abandoned boat was left in place thanks to its rotting beauty.

One of the last remaining Carpenter Gothic churches is situated on a wildflower conservatory overlooking the bay.

A living time capsule of the 1960s Richardson Bay water-front.

A working model of the entire San Francisco Bay and much of the Sacramento River Delta, complete with regular tides that change every 14 minutes.

A restored 1920s cascade stairway provides one of the best views of Oakland's Lake Merritt.

This mysterious series of teeny guerrilla installations sheds a whimsical light on street art in Oakland.

A creepy steel gremlin has protected the Bay Bridge since 1989.

Bonsai garden in Oakland is curated by the first non-Japanese female bonsai master in the United States.