Places Samir S. Patel Wants to Go

This lovely little burbling creek is actually a deadly waterway that has dragged down everyone who ever set foot in it.

This desert oddity hides in plain sight thanks to a cartographic error and a desert explorer with a punny sense of humor.

An abandoned horror film set sits eerily along a highway through Hollywood's "door to the desert."

Some 20,000 dust-covered unwanted vehicles languish in the desert.

A strange rock with a sinister reputation lurks within the crimson waters of this Scottish glen.

Four-story slides send people whizzing through the math department at this Munich university.

A startling, centuries-old subterranean marvel hides in plain sight.

Strange rock formations tower above the river that snakes through this enchanting Icelandic canyon.

This amazing abuela became a diehard metal fan late in life and an icon of Madrid's '80s rock scene.

A lonely beacon, precariously perched atop a remote sliver of rock.

Crushed coral and crystals give the sand its signature coloration.

Hidden amid the tropical forest in the Caribbean Sea are the decaying ruins of the Cocaine King's luxurious island party home.

Surprisingly delicious Asian-style hot dogs.

An old vending machine serves up unpredictable beverages from its seemingly magical insides.

The seamy, underground secrets of Portland's criminal past.

This underwater cave in Madagascar is home to what is thought to be the country's largest fossil graveyard.

The artist James Turrell is repurposing an extinct volcano crater as an observatory to experience the cosmos.

One man has carved a number of natural New Mexico caves into psychedelic sandstone temples.

This Oregon farm is dedicated to teaching people the professional art of tree climbing.

The Los Angeles flood disaster that took 400 lives and ended the career of William Mulholland.

The biggest pinball arcade in the world has over 600 pinball machines, and 300 arcade machines.

This hunter-gatherer architecture is believed to be the oldest religious complex known.

When the rain falls, this drain system turns into a musical instrument.

Minnesota's oldest and deepest mine is now an underground physics laboratory.