Standing in a state of "arrested decay," this ghost town allows for a detailed peek into Gold Rush life in an unusually harsh climate.

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

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 charming desert roadside bakery that produces 10 times more bread daily than it has residents in its town.

The echoes of a railroad town that solemnly mark the end of the line.

Once thought to be the oldest living tree in the world, Methuselah was germinated before the Egyptian pyramids were built.

Oh, just a motel on the edge of the desert decorated with thousands of clowns conveniently located next to an abandoned graveyard.

The tragedy of the Japanese internment camps is remembered here by a stark "Soul Consoling Tower."

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.

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

A unique collection of old miners' cave homes carved in to the hillside cliffs near Death Valley.

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

"Only the devil could play golf here."

The lowest point in North America is home to an undrinkable pool surrounded by fields of geometric salt flats.

Millions of years of oxidation make a drive down this winding Death Valley road surprisingly colorful.

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

Although it also features red, orange, and variegated cliffs of Navajo Sandstone, this state park is often overshadowed by its more famous neighbor.

The drama of nature in full effect in this Nevada State Park.

Preserving the remains of Native American cultures which otherwise would have been submerged behind Hoover Dam.

This former Mormon settlement is reemerging from the receding waters of Lake Mead.

Harder layers in colorful sandstone weather out as prominent “fins" and even more intricate and bizarre shapes.

An unexpected sinkhole in a desert flat within Gold Butte National Monument.

Nearly 300,000 acres of wildlife, natural splendor, and a hidden ghost town have been designated a national monument.