Not merely a museum – but a whirring powerhouse that offers a subterranean peek into the heart and soul of cable car operations.

This turn of the century masterpiece has a mysterious goaty interloper.

San Francisco's urban bison herd has persisted in the face of extinction, development, and disease.

Visible below the waves are memorials to the city's Gold Rush dead.

A favorite haunt of dinosaur loving children and hallucinogen loving hippies alike.

Relics of the 1894 Midwinter Exposition continue to delight visitors today.

Olfactory delights in San Francisco's Botanical Gardens.

Carnivorous plants, medieval aphrodisiacs, and the largest original wood structure glass conservatory in the western hemisphere.

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.

An ode to the friendship between four Pacific Rim countries.

One of the largest trees of its kind in California.

An extraordinarily ornate museum in San Diego holds wondrous anthropological treasures.

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

Every year, over 25,000 monarchs overwinter in Pacific Grove.

Two rocks in a perpetual kiss and one of "the most romantic spot in America."

One of the largest free-standing structures ever built, this dirigible hangar is now simply a giant skeleton.

The first high-tech company in the valley that actually worked with silicon devices.

A trash dump made beautiful by nature's power.

This eagle-topped spire remembers the military commander who snatched up California for the United States.

One of the most elaborate displays of Jellyfish is on display at the aquarium.

The first safe in this California town had to hold all the gold.

The oldest U.S. Government building in California, and it's State Historic Landmark #1.

This remarkably simple jail went over a century without an escape.

The oldest continuously operating church in California.