At the base of Steens Mountain resides an otherworldly desert.

Sweet Willy, at 30 feet tall, is the world's biggest beagle.

See just what life was like in a 19th-century prospecting town.

These black pillars of volcanic basalt seem to call mountain climbers with an unbreakable siren song.

Home of Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose.

The wooden airship was the largest flying boat ever built.

The largest wooden building in the world now houses a fascinating collection of aircraft.

This unassuming cheese empire in rural Oregon churns out more than 150,000 pounds of cheese each day.

The largest outdoor art gallery in the Northwest United States.

A popular rock that acted as a waymarker for American pioneers.

A devilishly named gorge that was a sign of salvation for many pioneers.

This replica small town lets visitors take a stroll through the story of progress in the U.S. via thousands of Americana artifacts.

A much-maligned monument to teetotalism.

The unbelievably opulent home built for an infamous newspaperman.

Knoxville’s architectural icon was the symbol of the 1982 World’s Fair, even catching the googly eye of Bart Simpson.

The lowest point in the state of Illinois, at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.

This historic hotel on Bathhouse Row in Hot Springs National Park has a storied history of gangsters and baseball greats.

This grave marks the final resting place of a legendary frontiersman... unless it doesn't.

Metal sculpture folk art lining the Kansas Highway.

This massive railroad spike celebrates the 1939 premiere of the movie “Union Pacific.”

A massive sea stack famous for its appearance in The Goonies.

This Wild West attraction is probably more fiction than history, but that doesn't mean it's not awesome.

This monument remembers one of the manliest men of the frontier who fought a grizzly before dragging himself 200 miles to safety.

Home to a timed geyser created by complete accident.