Places Edited by Eric Grundhauser

This peculiar lake of pitch is so thick and viscous that one can walk on its surface.

From the sky, a kaleidoscope of color brightens the grey landscape of the San Francisco Bay.

The sign at the garden gate reads: “These Plants Can Kill.”

The first "Hall of Fame" in America was designed by legendary Gilded Age architect Stanford White for what was then the NYU uptown campus.

A performance hall at the American Jewish University moonlights as a sci-fi film location set.

Rising from the sea like a stone monster.

North America's first frozen mummified remains of an ice age steppe bison, the 36,000 year-old mummy named "Blue Babe."

A scenic fort on the harbor protected Philadelphia from an attack that never came.

Collective dedicated to restoring steam engines.

A local farm's collection of unusual structures from a now defunct storybook amusement park.

Mount Nyiragongo has erupted at least 34 times since 1882 and is home to the world's largest lava lake.

400 million-year old limestone caverns nestled in the Ozarks served as shelter and a hideout for cultures throughout North American history.

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

Medical history with an amazing, if frighting, collection of wax diseases on display.

A medieval village holds a very modern hotel.

Visitors dip into a variety of pools of what was once ice.

Christ's blood allegedly preserved in a Belgian town.

A Spanish artist builds his own castle.

A fantastical group of cliffside stairways, bridges, and twisting paths carved out of stone provide a surreal coastal hike.

Twisted buildings adorn the banks of the Rhine river.

Island of trash twice the size of Texas floats in the Pacific.

An abandoned building that once tightened a power line that stretched across Messina Strait.

This historical theme park celebrates all things noodle.

A quirky house created entirely out of glass bottles combines a collector's spirit with an artist's flair.