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

A land of debatable treasure.

Twelve plaster figures inspired by da Vinci's famed painting haunt the desert landscape above a real-life ghost town.

This impressive tunnel was dug entirely by hand over the course of 36 years.

The lowest point in North America is home to an undrinkable pool surrounded by fields of geometric salt flats.

One of the most unusual geological features, recognizable from a dozen hit movies.

This old mining town, deep in the California desert, has a year-round population of one.

A hard-to-reach oasis in a desolate corner of Death Valley National Park.

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

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

L.A.'s oldest operating bowling alley is a beautifully restored homage to its speakeasy days.

Beautiful Victorian buildings from L.A.'s forgotten architectural past.

A collection of 20th-century automata, penny arcade games, and musical contraptions.

At this deceptively beautiful beach, nothing is what it seems.

The second-largest cave chamber in the world was discovered in 1898 by a 16-year-old and a friend known as "Pothead."

A famous hotel houses an impression collection of mini dioramas and giant doll houses.

Richard III supposedly disposed of his nephews' bodies here in an effort to seal his claim to the throne.

The watery entrance for condemned prisoners heading to the Tower of London is still visible along the Thames.

The prototype for all Nazi concentration camps.

A nearly 500-year-old sculpture depicts a man eating a sack of babies, and no one is sure why.

The bears of Bern have been a city highlight for over 500 years.

An awe-inspiring mosque in Morocco with one of the tallest minarets in the world.

The decor of this Hollywood movie palace just barely predated the opening of King Tut's tomb.

Burping, gurgling geothermal mud pots by the Salton Sea.