Places aowens196651 Wants to Go

Colorful Native American paintings are hidden within this small cavern.

Acres of natural wonders left behind by a socialite-turned-gardener.

Unusual white sandstone formations in the Los Padres National Forest.

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

Where there's quartz, there must be gold. Thus is the story of the mines of Julian, and the titillating times of the Gold Rush.

A remote desert lookout offers unparalleled views of the California badlands for those who brave the trek.

A monument to a one-legged kidnapper, horse thief, and charlatan asks visitors to throw rocks in a pile.

The fifth-longest natural arch in the world, and the longest outside China.

This site is home to ancient petroglyphs and pictographs dating back to 6,000 B.C.

A difficult trail leads to interesting ruins in a remote canyon in the Toiyabe Range.

Graffiti, cars, and religion combine to create this jungle of scrap in the Nevada desert.

Exhibiting the tallest structure of its type in Nevada, this massive mining complex is frozen in time.

This school building was an extravagant show of wealth for a boomtown that mostly faded in the following decade.

The liveliest ghost town in the state.

Anyone can play paleontologist at this quarry that has Cambrian fossils galore.

A remote field of nearly pristine sand dunes in the heart of the Mojave Desert.

Traversing these canyons, visitors can take in stunning views and glimpses of the region's history.

These ruins of a pre-Columbian cliff village are among the most beautiful and well preserved in New Mexico.

Behind this beachfront shop lies a spectacular, colorful sea cave with an equally colorful past.

Burial site of the notorious Chicago gangster.

This mangled and twisted wreckage left by the side of a Mexican road was no accident, but a planned crash in the name of science and safety.

Burping, gurgling geothermal mud pots by the Salton Sea.

An off-grid art installation that encourages its visitors to imagine a world without waste.

This abandoned Navy base was transformed into an off-grid alternative living community for thousands of people.