San Francisco, California
Golden Gate Park Bison
San Francisco's urban bison herd has persisted in the face of extinction, development, and disease.
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Places I've been
Places this traveler has marked as been there.
San Bernardino, California
Unofficial McDonald's Museum
This unlicensed collection of fast-food memorabilia sits on the site of the first ever McDonald's restaurant.
San Francisco, California
Lotta's Fountain
San Francisco's oldest surviving monument and meeting place for 1906 survivors.
Gilroy, California
Gilroy Gardens
Home to the "Circus" trees created by Axel Erlandson.
Permanently Closed
Los Angeles, California
Velveteria
The art and history of the velvet painting are on full display in this Los Angeles museum.
Los Angeles, California
Marilyn Monroe's Crypt
Her final resting place was intended to be modest and private, but the power of her popularity continues to draw visitors.
Los Angeles, California
The Masque
The remains of the first punk club in L.A.
Ione, California
Preston Castle
One of the oldest reform schools in the United States, home to wayward boys such as Merle Haggard, now abandoned.
San Bernardino, California
Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Healing Center
A former utopian healing center created by a huckster and built by derelicts.
Topanga, California
Hidden Treasures
An unreal vintage shop that wears its dadaist influence on its zombie fish.
Permanently Closed
Beverly Hills, California
24-Hour-Sprinkles
Ingenious bakery opens up the first Cupcake ATM at their flagship location in Beverly Hills.
Los Angeles, California
Templo Santa Muerte
A shrine to a skeleton saint in the city of angels.
Santa Clarita, California
Air Hollywood
No matter what it might seem like on film, most scenes filmed on a plane are filmed at this LA studio.
Permanently Closed
Yucca Valley, California
Bob's Crystal Cave
A meditative space out of a fantasy story.
San Simeon, California
Hearst Castle
The unbelievably opulent home built for an infamous newspaperman.
San Francisco, California
Three Gems
A hidden subterranean installation offers a view of the sky.
Los Angeles, California
Halloween House
Everyone remembers Laurie Strode from Halloween, but this is the house where most of the blood was shed.
Santa Barbara, California
Lotusland
Acres of natural wonders left behind by a socialite-turned-gardener.
Beverly Hills, California
Greystone Mansion
Stroll the grounds built by murder, suicide, and dirty oil money at one of Hollywood's most filmed mansions.
Los Angeles, California
Venice of America Canals
After starting as a whimsical tourist attraction that eventually found its way to ruin, these renovated canals offer a lush and exotic locale on the Pacific Coast.
San Diego, California
San Diego Museum of Us
An extraordinarily ornate museum in San Diego holds wondrous anthropological treasures.
Pasadena, California
Fork in the Road
A bigger-than-life pun that has become a beacon of altruism.
San Diego, California
Spruce Street Suspension Bridge
An inconspicuous footbridge beloved by San Diego locals.
Oakland, California
Chapel of the Chimes
Julia Morgan's Moorish-Gothic labyrinth of fountains, trees, natural light and Oakland's notable dead.
