Places We All Pod Down Here Wants to Go

An inconspicuous footbridge beloved by San Diego locals.

The randomness of this wall of lava lamps helps encrypt up to 10 percent of the internet.

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

Eons old volcanic activity created one of the most stunning rock formations in the United States.

A common entry point to the Griffith Observatory trail holds its own wonders.

The tea room that pushed the boundaries of adorable straight into... we can't find the words.

The last remaining relic of San Francisco's glittering 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition.

Historic funicular railway, believed to be the shortest railroad in the world.

A nondescript building that's been functioning as a speakeasy for nearly a century and a half.

The remains of the first punk club in L.A.

This Big Sur waterfall drops 80 feet directly into the Pacific Ocean, and inspired the hillside house up top.

An essential stop before plundering, BYO Cutlass.

Trails through lava-carved tube-caves display sparkling bacteria and a rich history.

A spiritual retreat in the heart of Los Angeles offers stunning gardens and a labyrinth to lose yourself in.

A collection of 20th-century automata, penny arcade games, and musical contraptions.

Canyon walls shrouded in ferns.

Carved by a waterfall in a hard-to-reach rock formation, this heart-shaped rock has inspired romantics for decades.

The one-time watch house for incoming ships at the Golden Gate now stands abandoned and hidden in trees.

This serene oasis in an affluent Los Angeles neighborhood holds some of Gandhi's ashes and got Elvis into Eastern Philosophy.

A shop full of natural curiosities, carnivorous plants, and costumed taxidermied mice.

One of the most scenic stretches of road in America winds between some of the country's oldest trees.

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.

This Los Angeles animation studio is keeping the wonder of stop motion puppetry alive.

A meditative space out of a fantasy story.