Places dirtlovinlady Wants to Go

In the days before HD projectors and IMAX, some of the most powerful projectors belonged to planetariums.

This strangely vacant Western amusement seems to be an empty tribute to residents of Lucerne Valley.

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

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 favorite haunt of dinosaur loving children and hallucinogen loving hippies alike.

Bring your own cardboard to the slippery slopes of concrete hidden in a neighborhood park.

At the base of the Golden Gate Bridge, a small sign basically begs for a high-five.

Get lost in this haunting fairytale art walk through a man-made eucalyptus grove.

This 19th-century church is now a popular roller rink.

At night, a grove of towering redwood trees growing through the pavement block out all light from the so-called “Dark Park” of Madrone Avenue.

George Lucas donated this park to honor the birthplace of his two biggest movie franchises.

Hand-powered race of alternative forms of transportation.

Gold Rush ship-turned-hotel buried underneath San Francisco's financial district.

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.

San Francisco's newly reopened hands-on science museum.

A hard-to-reach oasis in a desolate corner of Death Valley National Park.

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).

A decommissioned Naval base now rents itself out for people who want to blow stuff up.

Antiques by the Bay.

340 bicycles, 65 feet high.

This California family's ancestral melon is sold only here.

An art collective teaching the more fiery, metal-y art forms.

An vast warehouse of everyday treasures in Berkeley, CA.