Places jlatimer Wants to Go

The world's largest man-made underground caverns offer unparalleled underwater wonders.

An abandoned early-20th-century boomtown sits within the Calico Rock city limits.

The highest waterfall between the Rockies and the Appalachian Mountains.

This impressive ledge seems to float above the Upper Buffalo Wilderness.

Twenty-year effort to raise a castle using tools and techniques from the 13th century is now abandoned in the Arkansas woods.

In the St. Francois Mountains in the Ozarks at 1,772 feet above sea level, Taum Sauk Mountain is the highest (and possibly oldest) peak in Missouri.

Some of the oldest exposed rock formations in the United States.

Erosion and time have created a naturally-formed water park.

Rusted and decayed, this former mining site is a portal to the past.

These pink granite water slides are the result of millions of years of erosion.

Giant granite rocks standing end-to-end like a train of circus elephants.

Who said a biker bar is no place for a taxidermy squirrel collection?

This wooded grove of beautiful hand-built stone grottos is a hidden gem within a shuttered Franciscan monastery.

This former small town was destroyed not by the motor oil it sprayed the ground with but by the toxic waste that was added.

This mosaic-covered bar is brimming with curated curios.

A floating museum that was sunk by a flood and left to rot in the tides.

Man-made geyser that rises to the exact height of the Gateway Arch.

An abandoned meat mecca now serves as an excellent locale for urban exploration.

A mythical bird etched into the face of a rock doubles as the mascot for a nearby school.

The owners of this Victorian-era estate say it’s still visited by the spirits of long-gone residents.

First known as the "Sample House," this construction mash-up was meant to be a living catalogue of building styles.

Built in 1869, this now-retired structure looks more like a medieval fortress than a county lock-up.

A natural sandstone bridge nestled within a mature forest in southern Illinois.

Twice a year, this road is closed off to allow for the migration of thousands of snakes, reptiles and amphibians between cliffs and a swamp.