An errant donkey ushered in a new era of mining in Nevada.

A stretch of highway even lonelier than the so-called "Loneliest Road in America."

The huge granite obelisk that towers over a small California town.

The original building of a mining school endowed by one of the barons of the Comstock Lode now houses a museum of earth science and mining history.

What began as a prominent Burning Man art piece is now an iconic symbol of downtown Reno.

I Street Bridge is the heaviest swinging center bridge in the United States.

An internationally-recognized dark sky sanctuary lies in northern Nevada, near the Oregon line.

Organisms normally seen under a microscope decorate this church.

Decor at “Nevada’s Oldest Thirst Parlor” includes Raquel Welch's brassiere hanging from a stuffed moose head.

The oldest hotel in Nevada.

This former New Jersey bus now exists as a public art exhibit.

The East Village tenement from the cover of Led Zeppelin’s 1975 album has a tea shop on the ground floor.

An abandoned lot littered with concrete debris was once the home of the world's first female railroad president.

The modest home of the very immodest dancer who cost a king his crown.

Built in 1895, this bed and breakfast was once a hospital that served an early 1900s Gold Rush boomtown.

Home to an apple tree that can produce 25 different varieties of fruit.

Ruins of the original wooden flume that carried water to Virginia City are still visible high on the Virginia Range.

The California capital city once stood 10 feet lower than it does today.

California's longest-running tourist attraction is a stump.

The viewpoint for this attractive, off-the-beaten-path waterfall is reached by a paved, wheelchair-accessible trail.

At night, this glittering musical tunnel draws skaters and photographers.

An attractive alpine lake at 8,400 feet that is accessible via a paved road.

This aging storage facility is the world's largest brick warehouse.

The tower was originally used as a chimney for the waste incinerator of St Johns Precinct and Market.