The unusual patterns in this rock formation result from two distinct modes of weathering.

Settled by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1859, this abandoned frontier town has appeared in several films.

An unprepossessing storage reservoir in southern Utah has a checkered past.

A stoic rock cairn is all that remains to remember one of the more brutal instances of frontier treachery in American history.

This church was constructed by a shipbuilder and designed like an upside-down boat.

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

The self-proclaimed gateway to the Extraterrestrial Highway.

A stretch of highway even lonelier than the so-called "Loneliest Road in America."

A remarkably well-preserved stage stop from the late 19th century in a remote part of Nevada.

The first project by the Bureau of Reclamation illustrates both the upsides and downsides of reclamation.

A deep toxic lake fills this abandoned open-pit copper mine, now a Superfund site.

An improbable water gap where the West Walker River, paralleled by a state highway, crosses the Singatse Range between Smith and Mason Valleys.

Ghost town with a beer-drinking goat for mayor.

An abandoned quicksilver mining town surrounded by the Big Bend parks.

Amtrak's least-used stop in the entire country sits in a tiny West Texas town.

Beauty and history abound in this remote West Texas canyon.

Once called the Jersey Lilly, this former saloon was the domain of infamous Judge Roy Bean.

The state bird of New Mexico, constructed entirely out of garbage.

This old abandoned sign flickers to announce a motel that isn't even there.

An unusual bed & breakfast made of papercrete.

Explore the largest pure gypsum deposit in the world, and go dune sledding while you're at it.

Natural catch-basin rocks covered in thousands of drawings spanning many millennia.

Steep canyon walls hide a forested oasis in the West Texas desert.

The second-largest cave chamber in the world was discovered in 1898 by a 16-year-old and a friend known as "Pothead."