Eastern zen meets Western grit in these four little trees growing out of a rock on Lake Tahoe’s Nevada shore.

Despite his legacy of work in Spain, Cuba, and Florida, the larger-than-life writer's grave is a simple affair tucked in an Idaho cemetery.

Small Nevada town embraced its designation as the "Armpit of America" with an Old Spice-sponsored festival.

Three generations of intrepid collectors display their curious artifacts in a homemade museum right next to the caves they discovered.

This municipal playground was co-created by the father of one of the most playful characters ever.

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

An optical illusion found amid a logged redwood forest.

A trash dump made beautiful by nature's power.

The world's most famous donkey lives in this pen.

This giant shopping mall still holds signs of its automotive past.

A vast city of the dead, where the deceased outnumber the living by more than a million.

Forgotten and then destroyed by fire, this was once one of the largest saltwater swimming pools in the world.

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

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

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

Barely visible foundations remain where Stow Lake’s “observatory” once welcomed visitors.

A monumental cross hides in the trees in Golden Gate Park.

Golden Gate Park's historic collection of plants.

Shoot for par over the bodies of the dead on this cemetery-cum-golf course.

An elaborate gift from Claus Spreckels is now a piece of San Francisco history.

The oldest lawn bowling club in the United States.

The miraculous hydrant that saved the Mission District in 1906.

San Francisco’s century-old Christmas Tree.

The giant pair of sexy legs sticking out the window of this costume store have become its main draw.