The most complete statue of this Aztec god sits a top a throne carved with images of hallucinogenic plants.

This strange sculpture of a menacing skull surrounded by sun rays was discovered at the foot of the Pyramid of the Sun.

Clap your hands at the base of the pyramid, and the song of a sacred Mayan bird will echo through the air.

The only castle in North America to ever house European sovereigns.

Come face to face with the ferocious visage of the serpent-headed mother goddess of the Aztecs.

A peculiar mansion built by the troubled heir to the Winchester Rifle Company fortune.

A huge musical instrument played by the ocean.

Bring your own cardboard to the slippery slopes of concrete hidden in a neighborhood park.

The Cycladic architecture makes this Athens neighborhood feel like an island paradise hidden in the shadow of the Acropolis.

A small canyon with petroglyphs and a seasonal waterfall, only a short hike from the remnants of old Route 66.

Version of the French Riviera destroyed by the sea.

Once close to extinction, there is no shortage of elephant seals on the beaches of Año Nuevo State Park.

A shape-shifting buy-sell-trade bookstore, born to Beatnik Era spirit.

Pay your respects to a folk-punk legend.

A private home built to resemble the shape of a microscopic creature.

This Oakland fairytale kingdom, fiercely devoted to childlike whimsy, was an early inspiration for Disneyland.

Because there's no place like home.

The world's largest wooden trestle stretches across this desert canyon in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

San Francisco's urban bison herd has persisted in the face of extinction, development, and disease.

Big gun installations, built over a massive cemetery, now abandoned & hidden in trees.

This massive redwood tree has a hole in the base big enough to drive through.

This abandoned Navy base was transformed into an off-grid alternative living community for thousands of people.

The last remaining relic of San Francisco's glittering 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition.

A collection of 20th-century automata, penny arcade games, and musical contraptions.