Places agoalex Wants to Go

A look into the Church of Scientology's deeply unfavorable view of psychiatry.

Because there's no place like home.

The hotel room where Janis Joplin tragically died has now become a makeshift shrine to the singer.

The ruins on a deserted tropical island in the Philippines bear the scars of WWII.

In the middle of the desert, miles from any human life, sat an anomalous pay phone that still magically answers your calls.

This sculpture garden in Death Valley makes you feel like you've slipped into some alternate reality.

This dormant volcanic crater has been converted from a roiling pit of magma to a pleasant hiking spot.

Finally the worlds of UFO enthusiasts and beef jerky lovers have come together in this roadside shop.

A former utopian healing center created by a huckster and built by derelicts.

A giant desert bird that once swung music fans at Coachella now has a home in a nearby traffic circle.

This old mining town, deep in the California desert, has a year-round population of one.

While exploring the desert, you can stop by the home of a fictional heretic from a parallel universe.

Smooth basaltic rocks tell a tale of ancient glacial waterfalls.

A meditative space out of a fantasy story.

On a barren hillside in the Yucca Valley, the recently restored Desert Christ Park has attracted pilgrims and kitsch hunters for over 50 years.

The abandoned personal amusement park of the King of Pop.

The "Fun Spot of the Desert" is now a haunting ruin, and a reminder that putting a water park in a desert is a bad idea.

A desert ghost town—occupied for only 12 years—was once home to more than 500 silver mines.

One of the last free public hot springs is decorated with hippie art.

Nationwide network of co-ownership underground catastrophe shelters.

The ruins of the castle that chemicals built.

The liveliest ghost town in the state.

This impressive tunnel was dug entirely by hand over the course of 36 years.

This mysterious petroglyph evokes the ancient swastika symbol but was later vandalized with the more troublesome Nazi one.