Places clairebeware Wants to Go

This old mining town, deep in the California desert, has a year-round population of one.

Two men, two visionaries of Venice Beach, one little hotel that smells like cookies.

One of the world's longest murals depicts the history of diversity in Los Angeles.

Since 1973, this block has been home to the most concentrated collection of murals in San Francisco.

Two rocks in a perpetual kiss and one of "the most romantic spot in America."

Ancient human, animal, and geometric figures drawn in the earth.

Arcadia is home to a haven for nature geeks and 80s TV lovers alike.

Nuclear waste dump site now an environmental sanctuary.

A pair of large white marble lions guard this stretch of the Mojave Desert, and it is utterly mysterious how they got there.

Coastal dunes, site of buried Egyptian movie set and former utopian colony.

The mysterious round rocks of Schooner Gulch.

Dive bar built out of the remains of a whaling ship.

From Japan to Italy, this California park explores the world's cultures through their gardens.

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

Spiral labyrinth hidden in the hills above Oakland, CA.

Ten 25-foot-tall, beehive-shaped kilns, abandoned in Death Valley.

A giant donut stands as a popular symbol of Los Angeles iconography.

The fossilized remains of ancient California redwoods.

The neighborhood shop is a sort of tiny cactus museum full of exotic specimens you can take home.

This dark, quiet forest on the outskirts of San Diego is dense with rumor and lore.

The haunting ruins of Jack London's dream house.

"Only the devil could play golf here."

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

A nursery specializing in strange and beautiful succulents and cacti.