A sign at the end of the Santa Monica Pier marks the traditional end of the legendary American highway.

Not merely a museum – but a whirring powerhouse that offers a subterranean peek into the heart and soul of cable car operations.

This turn of the century masterpiece has a mysterious goaty interloper.

A desert ghost town—occupied for only 12 years—was once home to more than 500 silver mines.

This traditional garden in the San Fernando Valley doubled for Star Fleet Academy, and is irrigated entirely by wastewater.

This private residence was the template for one of the most beloved television homes of all time.

A bigger-than-life pun that has become a beacon of altruism.

The unbelievably opulent home built for an infamous newspaperman.

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

Abandoned bridge hidden deep in the San Gabriel Mountains.

The last remaining relic of San Francisco's glittering 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition.

After starting as a whimsical tourist attraction that eventually found its way to ruin, these renovated canals offer a lush and exotic locale on the Pacific Coast.

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

San Francisco's newly reopened hands-on science museum.

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.

An artsy hidden staircase leads to breathtaking views of San Francisco.

Under the right circumstances, this waterfall in Yosemite briefly turns a luminescent fiery orange.

At this Denver landmark, the meals are compulsory, the sopapillas are complimentary, and the insanity is everywhere.

A display of magnificent stained glass windows is the first exhibit of its kind.

Chicago's Navy Pier on Lake Michigan was a training hub for aircraft carrier pilots during WWII.

This shop for all your super spy needs hides an educational secret.

An unexpected but incredible collection of wildlife dioramas spanning rainforests, swamps, forests, and plains.

A 35-foot-tall fork stuck in the ground outside an office building in Missouri.

Three markers installed over the course of 140 years mark the point where Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma converge.