Thousands of acres of beautiful wild landscape in the Great Basin.

Well-preserved ruins in the Pine Grove Hills of western Nevada.

Bodie's 20th-century rival was a paragon of respectability and calm—but the mines eventually ran dry.

An abandoned early 20th-century gold mine in a spectacular setting overlooking Bridgeport Valley and the Sierra Nevada.

This Gold Rush ghost town was once the subject of a territorial dispute between California and Nevada.

Standing in a state of "arrested decay," this ghost town allows for a detailed peek into Gold Rush life in an unusually harsh climate.

Deep vertical fissures like miniature slot canyons cut across the cemented volcanic rock of Black Point above Mono Lake.

A natural dome made of volcanic glass in Inyo National Forest.

A relic of the region's once booming timber industry.

A glimpse into the lives of the the Miwok and Paiute people in Yosemite National Park.

The interior of the Overlook Hotel in "The Shining" was based on this Yosemite original.

California's longest-running tourist attraction is a stump.

A popular tourist cave with a dark past.

Where the writer penned his famous story about a jumping frog.

Hidden beneath a lake for decades, this brutalist mine has now emerged from beneath the receding waters.

The longest covered bridge west of the Mississippi River.

An expansive and intricately restored mansion remains from over a century ago--and so do its ghosts.

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

Everything you always wanted to know about borates is here.

A historic train ride from California to Mexico.

Walk through the actual strap iron cells and solitary chambers of Arizona Territory’s first prison.

The remnants of an early automobile route across shifting sand dunes can still be found in the deserts of Southern California.

This vast and otherworldly landscape is one of the largest dune complexes in North America.

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