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

Forgotten and then destroyed by fire, this was once one of the largest saltwater swimming pools in the world.

Faceless white figures loom over the city from the rooftop.

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

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

A man-made island in scenic San Francisco Bay.

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

The miraculous hydrant that saved the Mission District in 1906.

Inside an old airplane hangar, friends and strangers alike play on a massive trampoline.

A monument to the love people have for their pets.

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

One of the oldest producers of hand-folded fortune cookies still uses its original secret recipe.

This print shop boasts one of the largest pinball arcades in San Francisco.

A hidden subterranean installation offers a view of the sky.

The giant pair of sexy legs sticking out the window of this costume store have become its main draw.

A still functioning vaudeville carousel that has operated for over a century boasts a colorful menagerie and past.

This concrete tangle of square pipes has stood as a proud thorn in the city's side since the '70s.

Golden Gate Park's historic collection of plants.

This 19th-century church is now a popular roller rink.

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

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

An essential stop before plundering, BYO Cutlass.

Staircase winds down the side of Telegraph Hill through gardens, wild parrots flying overhead.

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