The key to turning shifting dunes into the green oasis of Golden Gate Park.

The seawater playground of gilded-era San Francisco burned to the ground in 1966.

The last remaining relic of San Francisco's glittering 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition.

Beneath the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge is the “Gibraltar of the West Coast,” a fort built to protect the San Francisco Bay from naval attack.

Perfect your fly fishing technique on their practice ponds.

Tenacious mummies survived dental problems, eternal entombment, and more than their fair share of devastating fires.

A 1920s speakeasy that had rum runners racing up and down the shores of California.

A New England-style lighthouse along California's beautiful Highway 1 gets a re-do.

Once close to extinction, there is no shortage of elephant seals on the beaches of Año Nuevo State Park.

More than 700 species live within this murky marvel of a swamp on California's coast.

The stately birthplace of California's statehood.

The oldest lighthouse on America's west coast no longer needs keepers, yet they maintain the site anyhow.

This lonesome Monterey cypress has survived centuries of wind, salt, and at least one attempt at arson.

One poet's handmade, anachronistic home.

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

This cabin from the 1850s is one of the first structures built by Chinese immigrants in California.

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

This stretch of beach along California's central coast is a busy highway for the largest seal in the northern hemisphere.

The unbelievably opulent home built for an infamous newspaperman.

A massive volcanic plug is now a protected area that hosts a number of bird species.

A chain of bells connect the California Missions and honor the legend of the "King’s Highway."

A hotel and restaurant serving as the mecca of kitsch.

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

A remote crossroads honoring a fallen talent.