This hidden fire lookout offers spectacular views of Sequoia National Park.

A water tower shaped like a giant coffee pot looms over a small Swedish village in Central California.

If you dial the number in this abandoned office window "Sam Spade’s" secretary will ask you to leave a message.

The rusting remains of the largest assembled WWII fleet on the West Coast.

A sparse, solitary sequoia still stands as a living tribute to the famous conservationist who planted it—but it's dying.

Thousands of crosses and markers for soldiers who lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan blanket a California hillside.

A shape-shifting buy-sell-trade bookstore, born to Beatnik Era spirit.

Concrete strongholds stand guard over the Golden Gate.

The key to turning shifting dunes into the green oasis of Golden Gate Park.

The one-time watch house for incoming ships at the Golden Gate now stands abandoned and hidden in trees.

An artsy hidden staircase leads to breathtaking views of San Francisco.

A monumental cross hides in the trees in Golden Gate Park.

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

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

Furniture tries to escape an abandoned building in San Francisco.

Spiral labyrinth hidden in the hills above Oakland, CA.

Oakland's beautiful monumental cemetery.

Julia Morgan's Moorish-Gothic labyrinth of fountains, trees, natural light and Oakland's notable dead.

This odd California folly seems like it was almost designed to accumulate urban legends.

A classically inspired temple in Redwood City.

An abandoned convention space that has been left to the homeless and the radical.

This (occupied) house is 10 feet wide and full of spite.

A unique piece of graffiti offers a little slice of local history and mystery.

The black lab that was voted mayor of a California town is forever remembered by a life-size statue.