A world-class observatory in the California desert.

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

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

The peaceful gravesite of a rugged wild west gunman echoes the touching story of his last days.

One man's ambition created this psychedelic log home.

It should come as no surprise that the world's largest artichoke lies in the town that calls itself the "Artichoke Center of the World."

A chain of bells connect the California Missions and honor the legend of the "King’s Highway."

An alley covered with 20 years of bubble gum.

A hotel and restaurant serving as the mecca of kitsch.

The unbelievably opulent home built for an infamous newspaperman.

A massive volcanic plug is now a protected area that hosts a number of bird species.

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

A remote crossroads honoring a fallen talent.

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

Standing in a state of "arrested decay," this ghost town allows for a detailed peek into Gold Rush life in an unusually harsh climate.

This naturally heated mountainous creek has created a group of neon blue pools of potentially deadly boiling water.

The liveliest ghost town in the state.

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

Marta Becket's hand-painted theater in the desert.

The site of murders and Satanic cult gatherings.

The hidden jewel of Disneyland: a members only playground for the Disney elite.

A small sculpture garden that provides a microcosmic representation of California.

This mysterious petroglyph evokes the ancient swastika symbol but was later vandalized with the more troublesome Nazi one.

The "world's biggest dinosaur" once housed a creationist museum in its abdomen.