This short-lived tea and silk farm is believed to be the first permanent Japanese settlement in North America.

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

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

In September 1974, a small group of athletes completed the first modern triathlon event in San Diego's Mission Bay.

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

The world's first disc golf course has the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a neighbor.

A small research station sits at the summit of this mountain, which is one of the few U.S. peaks higher than 14,000 feet outside of the Sierra Nevada.

A wondrous place to watch a special flower bloom.

An unexpected connection to Chicago awaits visitors on an island just off the California coast.

This settlement on the original Transcontinental Railroad began by harvesting timber, but transitioned to a forgotten 19th-century industry: harvesting ice.

After the nearby mercury mine shut down, this town was abandoned and declared a Superfund site.

A Buddhist retreat built on more than 100 acres of California Redwood forest.

A hidden gem, named after a San Franciscan icon, offers spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean.

A series of vibrant murals celebrate the culture and community of Oakland.

Home to an apple tree that can produce 25 different varieties of fruit.

Artist Jack Pierson made this surreal sculpture in honor of Wonder Valley, a countercultural community on edge of civilization.

For decades, the largest tungsten producer in the U.S. was located in a spectacular setting in the high Sierra Nevada, with some of the workings over 11,000 feet.

This jagged colossus of a building is mostly held together by an enormous concrete exoskeleton.

The United States' first transcontinental automobile road came to its end at this spot in San Francisco's Lincoln Park.

At the edge of the high desert, California's second-largest natural lake is home to a unique subspecies of trout adapted to its alkaline waters.

Unusual white sandstone formations in the Los Padres National Forest.

Beneath the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge is the “Gibraltar of the West Coast,” a fort built to protect the San Francisco Bay from naval attack.

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

A middle school sports field that many believe was the true location of the first successful powered flight - and not by the Wright Brothers.