"Only the devil could play golf here."

One of the oldest reform schools in the United States, home to wayward boys such as Merle Haggard, now abandoned.

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

The largest drain hole in the world.

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

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

A peculiar mansion built by the troubled heir to the Winchester Rifle Company fortune.

The abandoned train depot now doubles as a well-placed rest stop for those who take the road less traveled.

The seawater playground of gilded-era San Francisco burned to the ground in 1966.

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

Trails through lava-carved tube-caves display sparkling bacteria and a rich history.

Coastal dunes, site of buried Egyptian movie set and former utopian colony.

Factory that once supported an entire company town of 350.

The ruins of the castle that chemicals built.

The "Fun Spot of the Desert" is now a haunting ruin, and a reminder that putting a water park in a desert is a bad idea.

Finally the worlds of UFO enthusiasts and beef jerky lovers have come together in this roadside shop.

The world's first permanently occupied mountain-top observatory continues to report on the stars.

Once America’s most beautiful army base, this abandoned military fort on the coast of Monterey Bay has been left to the elements.

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

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

It's not your typical library, memorial, or book store.

This stretch of beach along California's central coast is a busy highway for the largest seal in the northern hemisphere.

The unbelievably opulent home built for an infamous newspaperman.

A Mysterious Masonic tomb in San Luis Obispo.