Places Ancientproof Wants to Go

The location of the last stand of Charles Manson's doomsday cult.

The haunting ruins of Jack London's dream house.

A popular tourist cave with a dark past.

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

Gold Rush-era tombstones line the park's paths.

A volcanic tunnel illuminated by natural skylights offers a shaded respite from the desert sun.

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

Secret Manor, a house full of legends, the least of which is the haunting of long-deceased ladies of pleasure.

An extensive collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts and mummies.

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

The site of murders and Satanic cult gatherings.

Once thought to be the oldest living tree in the world, Methuselah was germinated before the Egyptian pyramids were built.

In this century-old literary safehouse, print is alive and well.

A 300-ship graveyard, with a few still visible at low tide.

This Big Sur waterfall drops 80 feet directly into the Pacific Ocean, and inspired the hillside house up top.

Trails through lava-carved tube-caves display sparkling bacteria and a rich history.

The one-time watch house for incoming ships at the Golden Gate now stands abandoned and hidden in trees.

These delicate buggers are some of the rarest fossils that have bubbled up from the Tar Pits.

This strange seaside tower got its name from a wealthy eccentric who would hide coins among its stones.

Its buzzing collection honors vibrator history.

The ghostly remains of an accidental sea.

Under the right circumstances, this waterfall in Yosemite briefly turns a luminescent fiery orange.

World's largest collection of serial killer artwork and other macabre exhibits.

The bodies of some early polar pioneers are still buried beneath the harsh snows of the Antarctic.