Places cdoilez Wants to Go

Hike amid the palm trees that thrive among Southern California's Indio Hills.

A black and white painted wall creates an optical illusion in the California desert.

This simple highway curve has become a comedic pilgrimage site.

A self-built castle made by a mysterious man.

This stately structure has been abandoned for half a century.

A scrap-metal sculpture recalls an infamous 19th-century camel.

Remnants of a 4th-century church with vivid medieval frescoes and ancient sarcophagi hide beneath this old basilica.

This temple, built by an eccentric religious leader before his death, sits guarded and in ruins.

Carved by a waterfall in a hard-to-reach rock formation, this heart-shaped rock has inspired romantics for decades.

Costumed elves and mountain bikers co-exist peacefully at this abandoned Christmas-themed adventure park.

A military vehicle collection, showcasing how war transportation advanced from horse drawn artillery to self propelled cannons.

The "world's biggest dinosaur" once housed a creationist museum in its abdomen.

A trash dump made beautiful by nature's power.

This iconic L.A. bookshop is housed in an abandoned bank—both symbolic and chic.

This brightly made over hotel hides decades of suicide, serial killers, and mysterious deaths.

Remains of a Greek freighter trapped off of Rocky Point in 1961.

Where religious effigies, magic soaps, and occult candles are brought to customers at wholesale prices.

A Biblically-based Natural History Museum.

The most unique castle in all of Southern California, entirely constructed from repurposed materials.

A "haunted" landmark on the coast of Southern California.

An inconspicuous footbridge beloved by San Diego locals.

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

A library of rare occult books in Los Angeles.

A castle that was built stone by stone by an eccentric journalist.