Happy harbor seals frolic and snooze on this warm, sandy stretch of coast.

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

An vast warehouse of everyday treasures in Berkeley, CA.

This abandoned boat was left in place thanks to its rotting beauty.

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

A shape-shifting buy-sell-trade bookstore, born to Beatnik Era spirit.

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

Nursery with extensive collection of flesh-eating plants operated by the author of "The Savage Garden."

An "anarchical" no man's land, complete with garbage sculptures and a hobo-run "Landfillian Library."

Dive bar built out of the remains of a whaling ship.

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

This rare example of a "tidefall" is a spectacular drop from the cliffs down onto the beach.

Julia Morgan's Moorish-Gothic labyrinth of fountains, trees, natural light and Oakland's notable dead.

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

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

Canyon walls shrouded in ferns.

Aqueducts have dramatically changed this old lake, now home to tufa towers and its very own species of tiny brine shrimp.

Quite simply the largest tree in the world (by volume).

San Francisco's newly reopened hands-on science museum.

Behind this beachfront shop lies a spectacular, colorful sea cave with an equally colorful past.

Hollywood's most famous landmark, the "temporary" sign that has stood for decades longer than intended.

A winding path built in secret on the edge of the continent.

Bridges, terraces, and replicas of historic structures all built of rock and petrified wood by one man.

The deepest lake in the United States, and once the site of epic destruction that lives on in legends.