At this deceptively beautiful beach, nothing is what it seems.

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

An off-grid art installation that encourages its visitors to imagine a world without waste.

This abandoned Navy base was transformed into an off-grid alternative living community for thousands of people.

Water of undetermined depth has attracted rare fish and cult leaders alike.

Marta Becket's hand-painted theater in the desert.

Millions of years of oxidation make a drive down this winding Death Valley road surprisingly colorful.

The lowest point in North America is home to an undrinkable pool surrounded by fields of geometric salt flats.

"Only the devil could play golf here."

This crumbling Death Valley mining complex was known for its use of giant, 20-mule team wagons.

This stretch of beach along California's central coast is a busy highway for the largest seal in the northern hemisphere.

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

A massive hydrovolcanic explosion left a half-mile wide crater in Death Valley.

Travelers leave tea kettles in a remote part of Death Valley as part of a mysterious, decades-old tradition.

The rocks in this arid basin leave trails of movement behind them.

The tragedy of the Japanese internment camps is remembered here by a stark "Soul Consoling Tower."

Quite simply the largest tree in the world (by volume).

The house and graveyard used in the Stephen King spine-chiller.

Paranormal experiences in this hotel's room 217 led Stephen King to write "The Shining."

After giving up Michelin glamour for his Amish faith, one chef now makes stellar sausages in a small, off-the-grid shop.

The world's largest key collection features keys to the White House, Frankenstein's castle, and Hitler's bunker.

A popular rock that acted as a waymarker for American pioneers.

The first declared National Monument in the United States.

This little museum has an exhibit devoted to the elusive forest denizens.