This Stonehenge-inspired solar calendar stands alongside a landfill, in the middle of the Nevada desert.

Improbably, the largest wildlife refuge in the conterminous 48 states sits just northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada.

A mysterious and endangered parasitic herb from the California desert.

The ruins of a military outpost from the 1860s form the centerpiece of a Nevada state park.

An underground mansion with fruit-bearing trees and grapes growing beneath the surface of central California.

Two craters, which probably erupted within the last 1,500 years and are now filled by alkaline lakes, represent Nevada's youngest known volcanic activity.

The Zalud family experienced a number of tragedies in one decade, giving rise to rumors that the 19th century house is haunted.

A water tower shaped like a giant coffee pot looms over a small Swedish village in Central California.

The location of the last stand of Charles Manson's doomsday cult.

One of the few remaining indigenous petroglyph sites in Nevada.

This cave was hidden for thousands of years, storing the worldly goods of ancient Native Americans.

Singing sand that stands as the final remains of an ancient lake.

Marta Becket's hand-painted theater in the desert.

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

Quite simply the largest tree in the world (by volume).

A 19th-century cabin built into a hollowed-out Sequoia tree.

A glimpse into the lives of the the Miwok and Paiute people in Yosemite National Park.

Water of undetermined depth has attracted rare fish and cult leaders alike.

This Gold Rush ghost town was once the subject of a territorial dispute between California and Nevada.

This rock formation named for its unique shape is one of many that call the Alabama Hills home.

The hundreds of movies and television shows shot in this high desert town are commemorated in a unique museum.

This naturally heated mountainous creek has created a group of neon blue pools of potentially deadly boiling water.

Ten 25-foot-tall, beehive-shaped kilns, abandoned in Death Valley.

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