Beneath the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge is the “Gibraltar of the West Coast,” a fort built to protect the San Francisco Bay from naval attack.

One of the smallest parks in San Francisco honors the legacy of the "Mother of Civil Rights in California."

This lighthouse has been guiding shipping into the Golden Gate since before the American Civil War.

This lonesome Monterey cypress has survived centuries of wind, salt, and at least one attempt at arson.

This maze-like, oceanfront gift shop—the nation’s largest— has been serving kitsch to the Myrtle Beach community for over 80 years.

For nearly 50 years, this San Francisco nonprofit has been serving as a mix of recycling center and art school.

The rustic cabin-like decor of this Arts and Crafts-style church reflects the love of nature central to its little-known theology.

A quiet marker in memory of local men and women lost in WWI.

Bonsai garden in Oakland is curated by the first non-Japanese female bonsai master in the United States.

The southernmost outpost of the Russian Empire in colonial America.

A tunnel that brings more than a century of history to life from the deepest parts of the Niagara Gorge.

A wondrous place to watch a special flower bloom.

The "3rd largest" city in California is an empty mirage of suburbia in the middle of nowhere.

Mrs. Mallard and her brood are a beloved fixture in Boston Public Garden.

The stones that traveled from Spain to eventually become a holy place for San Francisco's nature worshippers.

This church also serves as a lighthouse complete with a beacon.

This airfield played a key role in both World War II and the Cold War.

The decaying adobe remains of an old homestead are just off the beaten path in Joshua Tree National Park.

Crumbling pink walls and murder memorials preserve the pioneer history of Joshua Tree.

This conservation area is also home to many of the region's desert tortoises.

Along a California highway is a kind of Jurassic Park made of metal.

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

A giant knight, sex education, date shakes, and Jesus coexist happily in this Coachella Valley desert oasis.

Mexican food and folk art.