Right here, members of the Lewis and Clark expedition boiled ocean water to make salt.

This gorgeous beach hides behind two headlands in Oregon's Ecola State Park.

Where Nor'easters go to die.

A massive sea stack famous for its appearance in The Goonies.

Mountain known by the Tillamook Tribe as "the place of the supreme deity."

Stepping inside this coffee shop is a journey through time.

The eerie remnants of an ancient forest were hidden under the sand for centuries.

This coastal rock formation resembles a churning cauldron at high tide.

Built in 1512, the oldest cathedral in the Americas.

The oldest colonial fortress in the Americas was once the home and later prison of Christopher Columbus.

Fifty years after a “blast blasted blubber beyond all believable bounds,” this idyllic natural area commemorates the carnage.

The park preserves a single, rare species of carnivorous plant that spells doom for unsuspecting insects.

Only known mainland rookery of the threatened Stellar sea lion.

On the Oregon coast is a natural hole that seems to be draining the sea.

There's something big lurking beneath the surface of this tiny Oregon park.

Dozens of whimsical bear statues "hibernate" here during the winter months.

Founded in 1933, this creamery has produced world-class cheeses and was the first American creamery to win a world champion title at the World Cheese Awards.

A chance to sleep among the firs and pines of the Oregon forest.

An art gallery home to a plethora of art from local artists who can often be seen hard at work.

Treehouse motel and treehouse-building school.

A Tibetan Temple and Buddhist organization just off the beaten path in Northern California.

This Taoist temple is the oldest continuously used Chinese temple in California.

Downieville's largest Gold Rush structure still standing has one of the longest bars in California.

The viewpoint for this attractive, off-the-beaten-path waterfall is reached by a paved, wheelchair-accessible trail.