Places RouteDown Wants to Go

This sign designates the road that leads to the infamous Area 51.

In the middle of an extremely unforgiving and desolate high desert is the most secret military facility in the world.

Water of undetermined depth has attracted rare fish and cult leaders alike.

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

The world’s largest concentrated solar plant generates as many problems as megawatts.

This giant temperature attraction created some giant electric bills.

No one’s quite sure why there's a metal megaphone bolted on two rocks in the middle of the Mojave Desert.

Where NASA's satellites and rovers phone home.

The "Fun Spot of the Desert" is now a haunting ruin, and a reminder that putting a water park in a desert is a bad idea.

This unlicensed collection of fast-food memorabilia sits on the site of the first ever McDonald's restaurant.

This incredible collection of vintage pinball machines can be played at 25 cents a pop.

Brightly colored 30-foot-tall totems light up the desert sky just outside Las Vegas.

A Norwegian-born sculptor created these soaring guardian angels at the entrance to Hoover Dam.

The classic Atari game's iconic aliens have invaded downtown San Diego.

One man's quest for the ultimate road trip vehicle.

Nancy Thompson's Home from "A Nightmare on Elm Street."

Everyone remembers Laurie Strode from Halloween, but this is the house where most of the blood was shed.

Her final resting place was intended to be modest and private, but the power of her popularity continues to draw visitors.

The dramatic upward-curving roof is one of the most iconic examples of Googie architecture that still stands today.

What began with a single, 357-pound chunk of the Canyon Diablo meteorite grew to be an impressive collection. 

An ultra-modern vista that has been featured in so many films the house is a celebrity in its own right.

A dwindling menagerie of anthropomorphic oil derrick animals still dot the barren California landscape.

Early prototype for Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim.

This one-block alleyway is stuffed with street art that is colorful, cultural, and intensely political.