Places Edited by Samir S. Patel

The center of the only hemisphere that awards visitors with a commemorative coin.

This beautiful "lagoon" is actually a toxic soup filled with cars, carcasses, and trash. When warnings couldn't stop people from going for a dip, the town dyed it black.

The historic Masonic Lodge in which the first-ever female Mason was initiated.

A theme park that suffered massive flooding during Katrina was abandoned, and now proves irresistible to trespassing explorers.

This hanging crocodile is thought to be the "dragon" that once plagued a Czech city.

The highest dunes in California are the most likely place in the area to hear the Singing Sands.

A six-ton, 12-foot-tall concrete prairie dog is touted as the largest in the world.

This stuffed pigeon of war had the very serious name "John Silver" until he lost a leg in battle.

This rugged area of red rocks and arches is often considered one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

This attraction was abandoned after the Chornobyl disaster.

A traveling postal dog covered 48 states and more than 140,000 miles, and he lives on as taxidermy, patched up with a rabbit's foot and a pig's ear.

The gorgeous library at Trinity College is home to remarkable treasures of Irish identity.

Sacred waters rescued from the wrath of a volcano.

Mysterious concrete spires left on a small Canadian hill.

The world's largest ship graveyard is the product of decades of corruption.

An elaborate gift from Claus Spreckels is now a piece of San Francisco history.

This eccentrically decorated palace is replete with grottoes, fountains, tunnels, and caves.

The legend of a local monster still haunts this small town.

This pebble beach is so beautiful that taking its rocks is against the law.

This artful dam holds back a crater-made reservoir that can be seen from space.

Leveled by an earthquake, this Italian village is now preserved as a massive concrete art project.

The site of the house Jack Parsons made famous both in life and death.

A series of waterfalls and pools that flow through the 'Ohe'o Gulch and into the ocean.

Survival capsules find a second life as a unique hotel.