This historic estate on the east shore of Lake Tahoe was home to an eccentric millionaire (and his pet elephant, Mingo).

One woman's Viking Castle on Lake Tahoe.

Decor at “Nevada’s Oldest Thirst Parlor” includes Raquel Welch's brassiere hanging from a stuffed moose head.

The museum is housed inside the historic 1863 Carson City Mint.

Nevada's second-newest state park offers camping, fishing, hiking, and river float trips.

Standing in a state of "arrested decay," this ghost town allows for a detailed peek into Gold Rush life in an unusually harsh climate.

This large chunk of dark rock is a relic from an ancient volcanic eruption.

This trench, some 2,300 feet long, is only the most prominent relic of a largely forgotten episode of placer mining on the east slope of the Sierra Nevada.

The first lookout in Yosemite.

The interior of the Overlook Hotel in "The Shining" was based on this Yosemite original.

A glimpse into the lives of the the Miwok and Paiute people in Yosemite National Park.

Under the right circumstances, this waterfall in Yosemite briefly turns a luminescent fiery orange.

A charming desert roadside bakery that produces 10 times more bread daily than it has residents in its town.

A relic of the region's once booming timber industry.

Towering basalt columns, a creation of fire and ice.

This naturally heated mountainous creek has created a group of neon blue pools of potentially deadly boiling water.

A natural dome made of volcanic glass in Inyo National Forest.

A new monument to an old grave that was uncovered during the rebuilding of a California ghost town.

Aqueducts have dramatically changed this old lake, now home to tufa towers and its very own species of tiny brine shrimp.

A volcanic cone that formed over 600 years ago.

California's longest-running tourist attraction is a stump.

The ancient dwellings of the Puebloans, located in the cliffs of majestic mesas.

Romania's only crater lake with water as pure as if distilled.

A celebration of all things tacky, garish, and bizarrely creative in the Romanian capital.