Places m25tolife Wants to Go

Like a kitschy mirage in the Mojave, this eatery serves up classic 50s-style diner meals and a dinosaur sculpture garden.

Once a place of peaceful repose, this sanitarium now faces an uncertain future.

“It's the quality” (but probably also the drive-through donut tunnel) that has attracted diners since 1968.

This graveyard is the eternal home of the residents of a vanished California town.

Storybook cottage in Beverly Hills was once the site of 1920s silent film studio, affectionately known as "The Witch's House."

World War II-era Nazi compound nestled in the Santa Monica hills.

This serene oasis in an affluent Los Angeles neighborhood holds some of Gandhi's ashes and got Elvis into Eastern Philosophy.

A Cold War site complete with rusty structures, hiking trails, and beautiful views.

Will Geer's outdoor theater started as a mountain retreat for actors, musicians, and other artists who were blacklisted during the Red Scare.

An unreal vintage shop that wears its dadaist influence on its zombie fish.

With its peeling paint and faded sign, this theater-turned-recycling plant is a nostalgic relic of 1950s Americana.

The abandoned personal amusement park of the King of Pop.

This little gem of Spanish Colonial architecture has been abandoned since the 1950s.

The home of one of California's most important horticulturalists wilts amidst a lovely park.

A unique local art exhibit that has continued to grow since 1989.

The beautiful behemoth is one of the largest trees of its kind in the United States.

Acres of natural wonders left behind by a socialite-turned-gardener.

Happy harbor seals frolic and snooze on this warm, sandy stretch of coast.

Explore more than 130,000 new and used books in the "world's largest outdoor bookstore."

Graffiti-covered ruins that were once part of a farm owned by a mental hospital.

From Japan to Italy, this California park explores the world's cultures through their gardens.

The beloved dining spot stands at the cross-section of Hollywood and the Old West.

One of the last free public hot springs is decorated with hippie art.

Each year these high desert hills are absolutely covered with poppy flowers in a surreal show of nature.