The beauty and the beast of hydraulic mining is on full display at this California Historic State Park.

A huge work of Burning Man-inspired outsider art on the grounds of a California winery.

Salt is slowly eating away this abandoned saltworks town in the desert.

Making Ice Cream Hip Since 2008.

Established in 1853, this crumbling cemetery sits forgotten on the corner of Church and Chapel in Gold Country.

Outposts of this restaurant chain were shaped like jaunty chapeaus.

The 10-foot-wide Long Beach home was built on a dare.

A massive ultra-modern church presents a science-fiction view of Catholicism's inclusive future.

This concrete ship has had four careers - World War I tanker, floating amusement park, fishing pier, and artificial reef.

A herd of 150 bison live on California's Santa Catalina Island and are at the heart of an ongoing debate between environmental protection and economic expansion.

Before it was abandoned and left to rust alongside the road, this riverboat starred in a John Wayne movie.

A small, peaceful sculpture garden with a grim memorial to a disaster that took place a few blocks away.

Inky sludge oozes to the surface of this beach thanks to a rare natural tar seep.

Location of the most powerful laser in the world, and the potential birthplace of tiny stars.

This mountaintop beacon is only lit three times a year but shines like some kind of all-seeing eye.

Inspiring Earthlings to Boldly Go.

One of the largest helium balloons in the U.S. is a 112-foot ginormous orange.

This well-traveled chess park offers scenic views of the pacific and a colorful, eclectic clientele.

Subterranean house made out of a grain silo, located in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

The most popular attraction in Southern California was once a flock of ornery bipedal birds that pulled carts.

Massive prehistoric mammals used these stones as oversized scratching posts.

Fans of the spicy bright-red sauce can tour where it's made.

An ominous concrete cube cuts a dystopian silhouette atop this California mountain.

Elephant seals and sea lions have turned the abandoned buildings on this island into their endangered love shack.