Law-protected wreckage serves as a peculiar memorial for an almost forgotten World War II tragedy.

The Empire Mine is "one of the oldest, largest, deepest, longest and richest gold mines in California."

The taxidermied remains of the "last wild grizzly bear in California" and of the symbol of the state of California.

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

Faceless white figures loom over the city from the rooftop.

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.

An extraordinary final resting place full of oversized art, amazing statues, and dead celebrities.

Oldest building in California still in use.

An vast warehouse of everyday treasures in Berkeley, CA.

The first AIDS memorial chapel in San Francisco and one of only a few in the U.S.

One of few lasting examples of the brief octagon craze that developed into folly.

A shape-shifting buy-sell-trade bookstore, born to Beatnik Era spirit.

A temple devoted to inner esoteric mysteries located in a California commercial strip.

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

An art supply shop holds the secrets of this quiet neighborhood's raucous Barbary Coast past.

A pair of mutilated bronze octopuses slump at the base of the monument honoring California's admission to the U.S.

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

Inside this museum, the history of the Walt Disney Family empire is on full display.

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

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

Every year, over 25,000 monarchs overwinter in Pacific Grove.

Join the circus for a few lessons to learn clowning, acrobatics, and Chinese contortion.

Over 315,000 preserved amphibians and reptiles in jars.

A garden oasis filled with flowers mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare.