Once strictly off-limits, this lower level housing curious and priceless vehicles of the Petersen Automotive Museum is now open to the public.

Life in this isolated, hilltop lighthouse was lonely, but it sure was lovely.

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

A world-class observatory in the California desert.

The famous animator's private station house and man-cave was the birthplace of imagineering.

The now-abandoned tunnels were built for the transcontinental railroad on the route where the first wagon train entered California.

A couple turned their front yard into an artistic masterpiece.

Golden Gate Park's historic collection of plants.

A monument to the love people have for their pets.

A Barbary Coast watering hole built into a Gold Rush shipwreck.

The liveliest ghost town in the state.

Not merely a museum – but a whirring powerhouse that offers a subterranean peek into the heart and soul of cable car operations.

This impressive tunnel was dug entirely by hand over the course of 36 years.

This turn of the century masterpiece has a mysterious goaty interloper.

Megachurch turned Catholic church comprised of 10,000 glass panes.

A large instrument played by the wind.

An overlooked and unassuming engineering marvel.

From pre-war whiskey cocktails to prohibition-era speakeasy secrecy, this bar has seen it all.

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

This rare example of a "tidefall" is a spectacular drop from the cliffs down onto the beach.

This unlicensed collection of fast-food memorabilia sits on the site of the first ever McDonald's restaurant.

A "Titanic" superfan changed his name to Jack and set up this strange shrine to the blockbuster, complete with Korean food and Tarot readings.

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

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