This ultra-modern California span is actually a titanic solar clock in disguise built by famed architect Santiago Calatrava.

Concrete strongholds stand guard over the Golden Gate.

The southernmost outpost of the Russian Empire in colonial America.

This mountaintop beacon is only lit three times a year but shines like some kind of all-seeing eye.

This whimsical seashell-shaped place of worship was designed to blend into its surroundings.

Once the largest windmill outside of Holland, with enormous 114 foot sails.

Two mammoth statues inspired by equally tall tales lure tourists to this roadside attraction.

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

A sculpture of the famous photograph stands on San Diego's "Greatest Generation Walk."

The key to turning shifting dunes into the green oasis of Golden Gate Park.

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

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

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

The lighthouse central to the 1980s horror classic "The Fog" is, in fact, located in one of the foggiest areas of the Pacific Coast.

One woman's Viking Castle on Lake Tahoe.

A raised boardwalk winds through a thicket of stunted, century-old trees no more than nine feet tall.

A working model of the entire San Francisco Bay and much of the Sacramento River Delta, complete with regular tides that change every 14 minutes.

The headquarters of a secretive order is also a beautifully-designed park.

Bits and pieces from the ill-fated Donner Party's winter cabins.

Get up close to emus and ostriches, or buy their tasty meat.

This Oakland fairytale kingdom, fiercely devoted to childlike whimsy, was an early inspiration for Disneyland.

A tribute to the life and work of the beloved "Peanuts" cartoonist.

An amazing collection of fantastic reptiles, amphibians, spiders, and insects.

California's own majestic geyser is powered by a subterranean volcano.