Travelers leave tea kettles in a remote part of Death Valley as part of a mysterious, decades-old tradition.

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.

This desert oddity hides in plain sight thanks to a cartographic error and a desert explorer with a punny sense of humor.

Dress up like a miner and take a slide into the disco-lit depths of this once foundational salt mine.

The ancient dwellings of the Puebloans, located in the cliffs of majestic mesas.

Strange red rock formations that have been attributed to a higher power for hundreds of years.

Officially named the "Loneliest Road in America," this barren stretch of Nevada road offers almost nothing but sky and open fields.

A 90-foot-tall psychedelic "tree" on the side of the highway has baffled passersby for decades.

An essential stop before plundering, BYO Cutlass.

The ghostly remains of an accidental sea.

The ghost town that ended up on Ebay.

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

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

Towering basalt columns, a creation of fire and ice.

A hotel and restaurant serving as the mecca of kitsch.

Come for the speed, leave in love with the desert.

Monasteries on rock pillars, once accessible only by frayed ropes.

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

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

The longest living non-clonal organisms on Earth.

Home to the deepest rift anywhere on Earth.