Places DMMitch Wants to Go

Orcas on display and in the water.

Former farm staffed by mental patients is now a public park.

This dilapidated ship carcass covered in trees is a striking sight.

A little-visited ghost town state park offers a glimpse into Montana’s "Silver Queen."

A metal menagerie fills the yard of this museum and gallery, the work of Montana artist Bill Ohrmann.

A beautiful geyser under environmental threat.

This off-the-beaten-path abandoned town is a relic of Montana's silver mining boom.

This amazingly preserved Gold Rush town is a historian's dream.

Canyon walls shrouded in ferns.

As a show of peace, a Japanese naval pilot gifted his 400-year-old Samurai sword to the Oregon town he bombed.

On the Oregon coast is a natural hole that seems to be draining the sea.

The eerie remnants of an ancient forest were hidden under the sand for centuries.

Only known mainland rookery of the threatened Stellar sea lion.

Rustic natural hot springs in the deciduous rain forest.

Stroll through a wonderland of stupendous moss-covered trees.

This large Sitka spruce that appears to be floating in mid-air, has defied logic for years.

At the most northwestern point of the contiguous United States lies a trail leading through an ancient forest to stunning cliff-side vistas and massive oceanside caves.

A little piece of the Shire is hidden behind a plant nursery in Port Orchard, Washington.

A taste of Middle Earth, in the middle of the Bayou City.

This long, dark tunnel is open to hikers, but those without lights are known to get confused even on the straight path.

It was once used as a classroom to teach mining skills to local high school students.

A black cottonwood gets a second life as a home for books.

In Washington's Yakima Valley lies a town "where dinosaurs roam."

A wild west land agreement was etched right onto this historic Idaho stone.