One of the first skyscrapers in Santa Monica, and a famous getaway for the Hollywood elite of then and now.

World War II-era Nazi compound nestled in the Santa Monica hills.

The quiet canyon has a tumultuous history involving a doomsday cult.

Come crisp December nights, this fairly plain neighborhood becomes a holiday dream world.

Will Geer's outdoor theater started as a mountain retreat for actors, musicians, and other artists who were blacklisted during the Red Scare.

You don't want to get caught in this trap--or do you?

The mysterious, untimely death of a Canned Heat band member still haunts this unfinished home.

An unreal vintage shop that wears its dadaist influence on its zombie fish.

This serene oasis in an affluent Los Angeles neighborhood holds some of Gandhi's ashes and got Elvis into Eastern Philosophy.

Malibu's first beach home features an astonishing trove of ceramic tiles.

The show's fictional Korean medical camp was created in the Santa Monica hills.

The disdain for this dysfunctional dam is reflected in a giant pair of scissors painted on the concrete face.

Millions of years of oxidation make a drive down this winding Death Valley road surprisingly colorful.

Four hundred granite steps were built into this massive rock by the National Park Service.

Quite simply the largest tree in the world (by volume).

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

The interior of the Overlook Hotel in "The Shining" was based on this Yosemite original.

Centuries of crashing waves carved out this small hole in the rock, which lights up at certain parts of the year.

The lighthouse central to the 1980s horror classic "The Fog" is, in fact, located in one of the foggiest areas of the Pacific Coast.

This whimsical seashell-shaped place of worship was designed to blend into its surroundings.

Climb 200 stairs up the tallest lighthouse on the West Coast for an unbeatable view.

This coastal rock formation resembles a churning cauldron at high tide.

There's something big lurking beneath the surface of this tiny Oregon park.

On the Oregon coast is a natural hole that seems to be draining the sea.