Everything OddWay knows about. Narrow it down by what you're after, or where you're going.
Real events too strange to have made the textbook.
San Francisco, CA
The former federal prison occupies an island fortress in San Francisco Bay, preserving cellblocks, escape history and layered military and Indigenous occupation stories.
Newberry Springs, CA
The operating Route 66 cafe became an international pilgrimage stop after appearing as the principal setting of the 1987 film Bagdad Cafe.
Searles Valley, CA
Founded in 1897 to serve gold mines in the Panamint Mountains, with around 400 residents by 1898. What is left is adobe ruins and scattered mining remains off Panamint Valley Road. Privately owned, genuinely remote, and with no dependable services.
Richmond, CA
The Grande Vista, later known as Belgum Sanitarium, closed in the 1960s and its main buildings were destroyed by fire. Today hikers in Wildcat Canyon Regional Park can find remnants such as foundations, stonework and old landscaping along the former sanitarium grounds.
Lee Vining, CA
A handful of restored mining-camp buildings survive near Tioga Pass, reached by a short high-elevation hike when seasonal roads are open.
Blythe, CA
Large human and animal figures were scraped into the desert pavement by Indigenous peoples centuries ago. View only from designated areas and never walk on the protected geoglyphs.
Bodie, CA
Hundreds of structures survive in a state of 'arrested decay' at one of America's best-preserved mining ghost towns; winter road access can be difficult or impossible.
Yermo, CA
Calico grew around one of California's richest silver districts from 1881, reaching roughly 1,200 residents before falling silver prices emptied it. Walter Knott restored the surviving town and gave it to San Bernardino County in 1966. Ticketed: historic buildings, shops, the Maggie Mine and a railroad.
Tulelake, CA
A loop trail crosses the lava landscape used by Kintpuash and Modoc defenders during the 1872–73 Modoc War. The site should be approached as a serious Indigenous and military-history landscape.
Lone Pine, CA
A silver, lead and zinc town high in the Inyo Mountains from the 1860s, holding an unusually complete set of mining structures. The whole townsite is privately owned and reached up a steep eight-mile dirt road — follow the owner's current visiting rules rather than treating it as open ground.
Chinese Camp, CA
A once-busy Gold Rush settlement retains aging brick and wooden structures along a quiet highway corridor; explore only from public roads and lawful areas.
Darwin, CA
This remote mining settlement is still partly inhabited, with ruins and weathered structures mixed among private homes. Stay on public roads and do not enter abandoned-looking buildings.
Sacramento, CA
A 1920s sternwheel riverboat is permanently moored on the Sacramento waterfront and now operates as a hotel, restaurant and theater.
San Diego, CA
A small historic cemetery in Old Town contains graves dating to the Mexican and early American periods, including markers now cut off by later street development.
Grass Valley, CA
Surface buildings, gardens and an underground mine model interpret one of California's oldest, deepest and most productive hard-rock gold mines.
Ferndale, CA
The steep hillside cemetery climbs above Ferndale in dense rows of old markers, creating one of California's most visually dramatic historic burial grounds. Visit respectfully during lawful access.
San Pedro, CA
Concrete coastal gun batteries and exhibits interpret the enormous harbor-defense system that once guarded Los Angeles from attack by sea.
Chiriaco Summit, CA
Tanks, uniforms, maps and desert-training artifacts interpret the huge World War II training area established by General George S. Patton.
San Francisco, CA
This hydrant is painted gold because it was credited with supplying water that helped stop the spread of fire after the 1906 earthquake.
Los Angeles, CA
Stone animal enclosures, barred caves and picnic tables remain from the abandoned 1912 Griffith Park Zoo inside a modern public park.
Death Valley, CA
Adobe ruins, processing remains and a twenty-mule-team wagon interpret the borax industry that helped create Death Valley's enduring desert mythology.
Los Angeles, CA
Victorian houses and other historic structures were relocated here from around Los Angeles, forming a preserved streetscape assembled from buildings that would otherwise have vanished.
Los Angeles, CA
Film stars, musicians and elaborate monuments share a working cemetery that also hosts screenings and cultural events. Visit burial areas respectfully.
Hornitos, CA
Stone ruins, an old plaza and surviving historic buildings remain in this isolated former mining town in the Sierra foothills.
