The Route 66 institution that inspired Taco Bell also served as an important headquarters for Mexican-American social movements.

Costumed elves and mountain bikers co-exist peacefully at this abandoned Christmas-themed adventure park.

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

All of the 20 occupied houses in this mostly abandoned town feature some curious display of junk art.

In 1967, murder and mayhem disrupted the tranquility along this quiet stretch of Old Route 66.

This bird-shaped rock formation defies gravity, time, and classification.

Some 2,000 carvings show this rare desert spring has been an oasis for travelers for over a thousand years.

A frozen oasis lies beneath the scorching New Mexico desert.

A vertically floating hemlock controls the waves and weather at Crater Lake.

Legend says that these tall basalt pillars are the petrified wives of a trickster god.

A 1940s nuclear reactor built to produce plutonium for the Manhattan Project.

Where Nor'easters go to die.

This gorgeous beach hides behind two headlands in Oregon's Ecola State Park.

Nuclear reactor created the plutonium used on Nagasaki.

People come from across the globe to swim in this lake believed to have healing properties.

One small town in the Pacific Northwest transformed itself into a Bavarian-themed tourist destination.

Sleep beneath the big screen at this old-school movie theater.

The highest point in Washington state is a volcano covered in glaciers.

Seattle’s Whimsical Mural Master.

An old-timey peepshow allows visitors to gawk at some of the world's most freakishly large footwear.

A walk through the historic city center, under the streets of Seattle.

This Native American settlement dates back to the Pueblo II period.

This unique bed and breakfast was first constructed during the 1800s by a Russian immigrant family.

US-50 in Nevada is known as "the Loneliest Road in America," but this earlier iteration of the route is even lonelier.