Alcatraz Island
For 29 years, cold Bay tidal currents did what bars alone could not — make escape nearly impossible.
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Three distinct histories occupy this 22-acre rock: a mid-19th-century military fort, a federal penitentiary shuttered on March 21, 1963, and a 19-month Native American occupation that began in November 1969 and drew the American Indian Movement from across the country. The National Park Service manages what is now a designated National Historic Landmark inside Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
What to look for
- The Main Cellhouse and Recreation Yard — the physical infrastructure of a prison whose fearsome reputation rested on the surrounding tidal currents and cold water
- The lighthouse, the oldest still operating on the West Coast of the United States
- Rock pools along the shoreline and the seabird colony overhead — western gulls, cormorants, and egrets
Ferry departs from Pier 33 (Alcatraz City Cruises), between the Ferry Building and Fisherman's Wharf; nearly 1.4 million people visit annually, so book tickets before you arrive.
Alcatraz Island is one of 31 sights worth the detour in San Francisco, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the San Francisco pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in San Francisco
- Golden Gate BridgeOpened May 27, 1937 as simultaneously the world's longest and tallest suspension bridge — you can walk the 4,200-foot main span yourself.
- Transamerica PyramidAn 853-foot pyramid that ruled San Francisco's skyline for 45 years — still on the Transamerica logo even though the company quietly moved its HQ to Baltimore.
- Golden Gate ParkSan Francisco turned three miles of bare shifting sand dunes into the country's third-busiest urban park — starting from scratch in 1870.
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)The West Coast's first museum devoted solely to 20th-century art, now stretched across 170,000 square feet after a 2016 expansion that nearly sextupled public space.
- Alcatraz Federal PenitentiaryA 9-by-5-foot cell surrounded by cold bay currents — the federal government once staked its reputation on the claim that no one could leave.
- Lombard StreetEight hairpin turns cut into a 27% hillside — the 1922 engineering fix for a grade too steep to drive straight.