A giant mascot, a car bomb, and the mafia mingle in the history of a defunct restaurant chain.

A historic hydroelectric power plant serves as the unusual backdrop for a public park.

This famous Nevada gold mine, once a hotbed of Wild West shenanigans, is now open for tours.

A mining town once rife with murderous disputes over its copious treasures now creates income as a popular spot for photo shoots.

This hidden, women-built-and-operated Nevada temple on Shoshone Native American land is dedicated to the Egyptian lion goddess Sekhmet among other goddesses.

A memorial to the unknown and unheralded men and women of the Cold War military and intelligence services.

This former shopping outlet is now adorned with beautiful graffiti and murals.

This huge dam across the Colorado River caused an armed standoff between two U.S. states.

One of the best-preserved ghost towns in Arizona speaks to the difficulties of establishing mining towns in the 19th century American West.

The stone circle honors the 19 firemen who perished during the Yarnell Hill Fire.

Inside this store, a mysterious statue draws visitors from the world over.

A Wild West jailhouse that slid down the mountainside.

On the outskirts of a reborn ghost town, a decaying post office remembers the bad old days.

Once the product of an inexplicable gold strike, this ghost town is now home to one man and his love of classic machines.

A classic Route 66 landmark that was built with scrap lumber and is held together with kitsch and puns.

In a 345-million-year-old cave that's 200 feet underground, dinner awaits.

One of the largest, oldest, darkest, quietest motel rooms in the world.

The remains of a boarding school designed to forcibly assimilate Native American children.

A Saint Nicholas-themed ghost town in the Mojave desert.

This golf ball–shaped former desert real estate office now houses a UFO museum.

An abandoned 1920s-era stretch of cabins now overshadowed by the 66 Motel.

Decommissioned experimental solar facilities that pioneered solar energy technology.

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

No one's quite sure why there's a metal megaphone bolted on two rocks in the middle of the Mojave Desert.