Places snailhugs Wants to Go

In the middle of the desert, miles from any human life, sat an anomalous pay phone that still magically answers your calls.

A former utopian healing center created by a huckster and built by derelicts.

One of the ghostly stops along Route 66.

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.

A desert ghost town—occupied for only 12 years—was once home to more than 500 silver mines.

Nationwide network of co-ownership underground catastrophe shelters.

Abandoned Air Force base that has fallen into disrepair.

The last Americana on Route 66.

This temple, built by an eccentric religious leader before his death, sits guarded and in ruins.

A large sculptural artwork and garden in Escondido, California.

This dark, quiet forest on the outskirts of San Diego is dense with rumor and lore.

This little blue house pokes out over the campus of UC San Diego, seven stories high.

Behind this beachfront shop lies a spectacular, colorful sea cave with an equally colorful past.

Lucha Libre (Mexican Wrestling) themed taco shop.

A couple turned their front yard into an artistic masterpiece.

One of the few remaining carousels built by master amusement park carver Charles I.D. Looff.

A Biblically-based Natural History Museum.

The world's largest wooden trestle stretches across this desert canyon in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

A hand-built folk art installation covered with messages of God's love.

Erroneously called the world's tallest flagpole, this landmark is devoted to "good neighborliness."

The sea once considered an ecological wasteland is now called "crown jewel of avian biodiversity" by scientists.

Along a California highway is a kind of Jurassic Park made of metal.

A monument to a one-legged kidnapper, horse thief, and charlatan asks visitors to throw rocks in a pile.

A fake town founded by Western movie stars is now becoming a hip desert community.