This simple highway curve has become a comedic pilgrimage site.

The ghostly remains of an accidental sea.

Burping, gurgling geothermal mud pots by the Salton Sea.

At this deceptively beautiful beach, nothing is what it seems.

Huge otherworldly domed rocks on the shore of a deadly lake.

The sea once considered an ecological wasteland is now called "crown jewel of avian biodiversity" by scientists.

World's largest collection devoted to one fruit.

These lush groves of fan palms rise up like oases out of southern California's Colorado Desert.

A giant knight, sex education, date shakes, and Jesus coexist happily in this Coachella Valley desert oasis.

A former department store turned into a quirky restaurant.

This striking public art installation is suspended above a public park, designed to gently move in the breeze.

The installation’s official name, “You Who Are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies,” says it all.

This unique competition celebrates an American Indian and Canadian First Nation cultural tradition.

Open since 1938, this diner has kept its fountain, malt machine, and all the gum that greasers left beneath its counter.

The first permanent memorial to a unique secret weapon of World War II.

Founded by members of the Tohono O’odham Nation, this one-room joint's James Beard–winning fry bread is light as a cloud.