Millions of years of oxidation make a drive down this winding Death Valley road surprisingly colorful.

The rocks in this arid basin leave trails of movement behind them.

The lowest point in North America is home to an undrinkable pool surrounded by fields of geometric salt flats.

"Only the devil could play golf here."

This Big Sur waterfall drops 80 feet directly into the Pacific Ocean, and inspired the hillside house up top.

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

A dramatic, 360-degree recreation of Pickett's Charge in the Civil War.

This rare triple-jurisdiction drawbridge passes through Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.

A priceless collection of the Nation's cryptologic history.

A former major munitions plant that has been converted into a sprawling art space.

This stately building in Alexandria, Virginia was built by Freemasons to honor one of their most famous members.

The romance of early commercial flight still fills this Art Deco destination.

This isn't your average roadway—it's actually a National Park and a transportation pioneer.

One critic described it as "middle Mussolini, early Ramses, and late Neiman-Marcus." Another called it an architectural "natural disaster."

This lovely picnic spot featuring thunderous jet landings is an aircraft spotter’s dream.

Look closely and you’ll notice that the color changes a third of the way up the tower.

This seemingly out-of-place gas station by the Watergate hotel was once described as the most expensive gas station in the world.

Before Nixon, "watergate" meant canals.

At 207 feet, one of the world's longest continuous escalators.

The little-known, 300-year history of the area includes former lives as a bustling tobacco port, parking lot, and industrial dump.

A celebrity from the late Cretaceous period.

Outsider art meets paleontology at this roadside reptile repository.

The last holdout of a pre-Civil War rebel who took the matter of slavery into his own hands.

The semi-reclaimed ruins of this canal were once part of an ambitious plan to reroute the mighty potomac.