A treasure trove of scientific instruments from the 17th and 18th centuries.

One of the oldest reform schools in the United States, home to wayward boys such as Merle Haggard, now abandoned.

Dentist's hated concrete colossi are now beloved icons of the community.

The tallest bridge in California was constructed for a project that was eventually cancelled.

The now-abandoned tunnels were built for the transcontinental railroad on the route where the first wagon train entered California.

Bits and pieces from the ill-fated Donner Party's winter cabins.

This mother-daughter run curiosities shop is a beautifully odd mix of taxidermy and exotic plants.

Two craters, which probably erupted within the last 1,500 years and are now filled by alkaline lakes, represent Nevada's youngest known volcanic activity.

Small Nevada town embraced its designation as the "Armpit of America" with an Old Spice-sponsored festival.

An abandoned mine serves as a stark memorial of when mercury was a valued strategic metal.

How a bat poo mine became a major Native American archaeological site—and connections to legendary red-haired giants.

A spectacular but little-known slot canyon in extreme northern Nevada, with sheer walls nearly 500 feet high and a perennial stream.

Mine your own precious stones.

Local history museum with mammoth bones and an old myth about local giants

The self-made house sculpture of an outsider artist who named himself "Chief Rolling Thunder."

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

The rocks in this arid basin leave trails of movement behind them.

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 scenic hike in the High Sierra that ends at an old gold mine.

Deep vertical fissures like miniature slot canyons cut across the cemented volcanic rock of Black Point above Mono Lake.

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

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

Towering basalt columns, a creation of fire and ice.

Abandoned anti-ballistic missile base.