Places CTravels Wants to Go

At this rural museum, visitors can experience "Boomtown U.S.A.," a lifelike re-creation of an oil boomtown in the 1930s.

A tribute to one of the most memorable characters from the Transformers movie series.

In Paris, Texas, even Jesus wears cowboy boots.

Known as one of America's most beautiful public restrooms.

Twice a year, visitors can tour the desolate site that birthed the Atomic Age.

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

Huge otherworldly domed rocks on the shore of a deadly lake.

Burping, gurgling geothermal mud pots by the Salton Sea.

For almost 100 years, this site of peace and spirituality has existed on the California coast.

This little valley along Highway 1 is engulfed by thousands of lilies during the spring season.

Life in this isolated, hilltop lighthouse was lonely, but it sure was lovely.

Centuries of crashing waves carved out this small hole in the rock, which lights up at certain parts of the year.

Offering commanding views of the California coastline, this restaurant was a hub for the artists and bohemians of Big Sur.

This Big Sur waterfall drops 80 feet directly into the Pacific Ocean, and inspired the hillside house up top.

California's largest steel arch bridge.

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

A popular winter vacation destination for migrating monarch butterflies.

For over 20 years, Lil Toot has delighted guests with narrated boat rides between Stearns Wharf and Santa Barbara Harbor, becoming a beloved local legend and top-rated experience for visitors.

At 130 years old and 126 feet tall, it is the largest known example of the rare Torrey pine tree.

Inky sludge oozes to the surface of this beach thanks to a rare natural tar seep.

Happy harbor seals frolic and snooze on this warm, sandy stretch of coast.

Travelers leave tea kettles in a remote part of Death Valley as part of a mysterious, decades-old tradition.

A lone gunner's station is all that remains of a replica Spanish Fort in Florida.

The first custom-designed building to showcase the works of Dale Chihuly is a wonderland of glass and light.