This 252 step staircase offers stunning views of San Jose.

A lonely monument to the original Silicon Valley tech campus.

This giant spider sculpture made from the iconic car is one giant visual pun.

Traversing these canyons, visitors can take in stunning views and glimpses of the region's history.

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

The randomness of this wall of lava lamps helps encrypt up to 10 percent of the internet.

The last remaining relic of San Francisco's glittering 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition.

San Francisco's newly reopened hands-on science museum.

The seawater playground of gilded-era San Francisco burned to the ground in 1966.

Carnivorous plants, medieval aphrodisiacs, and the largest original wood structure glass conservatory in the western hemisphere.

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.

This Oakland fairytale kingdom, fiercely devoted to childlike whimsy, was an early inspiration for Disneyland.