This hidden amusement park is a magical escape for kids and kids-at-heart.

The black lab that was voted mayor of a California town is forever remembered by a life-size statue.

Hiding amid the largest camellia collection in the country lies a charming children's maze, donated by a secret admirer.

Experience Larry Spring's self-taught "common sense" laws of physics.

This hidden fire lookout offers spectacular views of Sequoia National Park.

This Southern Californian Conservation Center is home to singing and howling apes.

Location of the most powerful laser in the world, and the potential birthplace of tiny stars.

Over 300 taxidermied animals in a Californian restaurant make for a taxidermist's dream and an animal lover's nightmare.

The Citrus Variety Collection at UC Riverside contains two trees of each of the 1,000+ varieties of citrus.

A giant desert bird that once swung music fans at Coachella now has a home in a nearby traffic circle.

The most popular attraction in Southern California was once a flock of ornery bipedal birds that pulled carts.

These lush groves of fan palms rise up like oases out of southern California's Colorado Desert.

A small, peaceful sculpture garden with a grim memorial to a disaster that took place a few blocks away.

This mysterious series of teeny guerrilla installations sheds a whimsical light on street art in Oakland.

The only parking meter in the entire town, it is surrounded by 100 free spaces.

The oldest lighthouse on America's west coast no longer needs keepers, yet they maintain the site anyhow.

An expansive and intricately restored mansion remains from over a century ago--and so do its ghosts.

A New England-style lighthouse along California's beautiful Highway 1 gets a re-do.

Raised illegally, Reggie now lives at the Los Angeles Zoo after authorities spent years tracking him down.

Gnomes have their very own bonsai-landscaped settlement on a university campus.

Each winter this underground cave forms a dazzling ice palace.

The sea once considered an ecological wasteland is now called "crown jewel of avian biodiversity" by scientists.

Here, visitors can swing with the waves of the Pacific Ocean.

Where the polar bear watches over everything, and every drink is a double.