Come for the speed, leave in love with the desert.

This concert pavilion on the shore of the Great Salt Lake has been destroyed by fire, water, and disinterest but keeps coming back.

The marker offers a rare chance to be in four U.S. states at once, though there's some controversy over its geographic accuracy.

The world's largest dead polar bear, immortalized by taxidermy and Hunter S. Thompson.

The highest point in Nevada had to be decided by court order after California tried to claim it as their own.

An errant donkey ushered in a new era of mining in Nevada.

This railroad magnate's 19th century tower is more than a little bit out of place in the Nevada desert.

Only intact Ichthyosaur skeleton in the United States.

In the middle of a remote desert town is a surprisingly opulent hotel.

This one-block alleyway is stuffed with street art that is colorful, cultural, and intensely political.

At the base of the Golden Gate Bridge, a small sign basically begs for a high-five.

Home to one of the world’s largest collections of model yachts.

The best place in the park to test out your throwing arm.

A famous alternative culture epicenter and where Joplin serenaded young hippies.

San Francisco's oldest surviving monument and meeting place for 1906 survivors.

This concrete tangle of square pipes has stood as a proud thorn in the city's side since the '70s.

San Francisco's urban bison herd has persisted in the face of extinction, development, and disease.

A 300-ship graveyard, with a few still visible at low tide.

The one-time watch house for incoming ships at the Golden Gate now stands abandoned and hidden in trees.

A favorite haunt of dinosaur loving children and hallucinogen loving hippies alike.

A walk-in working camera obscura produces 360-degree live images of the San Francisco coast.

A tiny theater hidden in an alley plays a constant stream of short silent films for anyone willing to peer through the peephole.

There is no trying to fall in love with this Star Wars fountain, you just do or do not.

A winding path built in secret on the edge of the continent.