This once-booming Gold Rush town is now home to a herd of feral donkeys.

A surreal, Gaudi-inspired play space near an Anaheim community center.

A very tiny church, bisected by a now-dead oak tree and marooned in the middle of a shopping center parking lot.

This enormous World War II relic is one of the largest wooden structures in the world.

One of the most unusual geological features, recognizable from a dozen hit movies.

This sun-scorched lakebed contains samples of half the natural elements known to humankind.

This unique graffiti art from the 1940s has become a staple of this local landscape in the remote California desert.

Meet 'Big Josh,' the 20-foot-tall muffler man.

A hidden courtyard houses early 20th-century plaster masterpieces.

You don't have to be a diplomat to visit the so-called Camp David of the West.

Huge otherworldly domed rocks on the shore of a deadly lake.

Burping, gurgling geothermal mud pots by the Salton Sea.

The famous animator's private station house and man-cave was the birthplace of imagineering.

Have a steam and some blini at this cafe in a century-old bathhouse.

Version of the French Riviera destroyed by the sea.

Abandoned Air Force base that has fallen into disrepair.

The American Home, Re-imagined.

This ultra-modern home clings to the slope of the Hollywood Hills on a precarious stilt.

This L.A. fixture has been serving hot dogs out of a giant hot dog since 1946.

A collection of anti-communist sculptures stands watch in the Mojave Desert.

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

The awe-inspiring ship from the golden era of cruising has an incomparable history and a reputation as one of the world’s most haunted places.

These structures were inspired by both Native American shelters as well as, strangely, an ice cream shop.

The only museum and archive west of the Mississippi that is dedicated to the study of Abraham Lincoln.