Alcatraz Island

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Alcatraz Island Alcatraz Island is part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Welcome to Golden Gate NPS social media account. Please be considerate of other fan's opinions.
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Alcatraz Island offers a close-up look at the site of the first lighthouse and US built fort on the West Coast, the infamous federal penitentiary long off-limits to the public, and the 18 month occupation by Indians of All Tribes which saved the tribes. Rich in history, there is also a natural side to the Rock—gardens, tide pools, bird colonies, and bay views beyond compare. We hope this will become a place where fans feel comfortable sharing information and experiences about Alcatraz with one another. While our social platforms are an open forum, they are also family friendly, so please keep your comments and wall posts clean. In addition to keeping it family friendly, we ask that you follow our posting guidelines here. If you do not comply, your message will be removed. We do not allow graphic, obscene, explicit or racial comments or submissions, nor do we allow comments that are abusive, hateful or intended to defame anyone or any organization. We do not allow solicitations or advertisements. This includes promotion or endorsement of any financial, commercial or non-governmental agency. Such posts and/or links are subject to deletion. People who continue to post such content and/or links may be subject to page participation restrictions and/or removal from the page. We do not allow attempts to defame or defraud any financial, commercial or non-governmental agency. We do not allow comments that suggest or encourage illegal activity. You participate at your own risk, taking personal responsibility for your comments, your username and any information provided. Posting of external links on this site that are intended as advertising (or to drive traffic to websites unrelated to Alcatraz), or do not contribute to dialog and discussions about Alcatraz may be deleted. People who continue to post such links may be subject to page participation restrictions and/or removal from the page. External links do not constitute official endorsement on behalf of the U.S. National Park Service or the U.S. Department of Interior. For official information about Alcatraz Island, please visit our Web site at: http://www.nps.gov/alca

Join us on October 17 for a presentation from the Northern California Innocence Project. The Project is a non-profit pro...
10/14/2026

Join us on October 17 for a presentation from the Northern California Innocence Project. The Project is a non-profit program of Santa Clara University School of Law whose mission is to promote a fair, effective, and compassionate criminal legal system and protect the rights of the innocent. Megan Crane, Legal Director, will share the Project's work and Kevin Harper will share his journey to exoneration.

The talk is free and does not require a reservation. However, you must purchase a ferry ticket to the island. For this program, we recommend taking the 10:10 AM ferry.

🎟️Purchase tickets at https://www.alcatrazcitycruises.com/
📆For event information: https://go.nps.gov/FormerlyIncarceratedSpeakers

This event is part of Alcatraz's Formerly Incarcerated Speaker Series which highlights the voices of people who have spent time inside of jails and prisons. The National Park Service believes in parks as platforms for dialogue, and Alcatraz Island, being one of the only NPS sites that interprets mass incarceration, works directly with people who have been affected in order to give them a platform to showcase their stories.

đź“·Images courtesy the Northern California Innocence Project

Alcatraz Island, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, is scheduled to temporarily close beginning on Oct. 2...
10/07/2026

Alcatraz Island, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, is scheduled to temporarily close beginning on Oct. 26, 2026, while crews replace pilings that secure the ferry dock to the island. Repairs are expected to be completed by Nov. 18, 2026.

Visitors with existing reservations for any affected departures will be notified as soon as possible to receive a refund, along with the option to reschedule their Alcatraz Island tour or book a San Francisco Bay Discovery Cruise for selected dates during the closure period. Affected customers should contact Alcatraz City Cruises at https://alcatrazcitycruises.com/contact-us

For more information, https://go.nps.gov/2026AlcatrazDockRepairs

đź“·NPS Photo/Tory Starling. Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay.

Join us this Saturday for Living History Day, hosted by the Friends of the Civil War on Alcatraz! There will be re-enact...
09/30/2026

Join us this Saturday for Living History Day, hosted by the Friends of the Civil War on Alcatraz! There will be re-enactors, dressed in historical period attire leading tours about the Civil War era on Alcatraz.

Participants include the Third Artillery band, The U.S. Balloon Corps, the 20th Maine re-enactors, and more.

Events include tours of Fort Alcatraz, concerts by the band, and military drills. Exhibits include soldier’s equipment, 1860s medical displays, household items and the role of women in the Civil War.

If you are interested in attending this event, you can book any a Day Tour ticket at www.AlcatrazCityCruises.com

đź“·NPS Photo / Dan Friedman. Learn about the Civil War history of the island.

This Saturday, join our friends Alcatraz City Cruises for a free, family-friendly event by the Bay to celebrate 20 years...
09/23/2026

This Saturday, join our friends Alcatraz City Cruises for a free, family-friendly event by the Bay to celebrate 20 years of partnership with the National Park Service.

📆Saturday, September 26, 2026
⏲️10:00 AM – 2:30 PM
đź“ŤPier 33, Alcatraz Landing, San Francisco

What's happening?
Free face painting
Live DJ all day
Decorate your own 20th Anniversary tote bag
Roaming photobooth
Passport Stamp Challenge - visit every booth, collect every stamp, and unlock giveaways

No ticket or RSVP required. Note: Community Day does not include a tour of Alcatraz Island.

đź“·Image Courtesy Alcatraz City Cruises

Mondays got us like… Heading back to the office after the weekend isn’t the reason these Black-crowned Night Herons look...
09/21/2026

Mondays got us like…

Heading back to the office after the weekend isn’t the reason these Black-crowned Night Herons look disheveled! This juvenile is aggressively attempting to get food from their parent. Alcatraz is home to over 75 pairs of Black-crowned Night Herons- if you find yourself out here after sunset during the Alcatraz Night Tour, you may be lucky enough to spot one of these incredible birds fishing off the boat dock.

đź“·An adult and juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron perched on a branch. NPS/M. Barnes

Incarcerated men at Alcatraz were allowed to send two letters a week and receive up to seven. All mail going in and out ...
09/02/2026

Incarcerated men at Alcatraz were allowed to send two letters a week and receive up to seven. All mail going in and out of Alcatraz was read and censored by the administrative staff and each person had to get their list of correspondents approved by the Warden. They could not write about other inmates or events that happened at Alcatraz.

Alcatraz also had a “prisoner’s mail box,” which allowed an incarcerated person to write a letter of grievance directly to a Department of Justice official, without the letter being inspected or censored by the Warden. For instance, they could write to the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, the Attorney General, the Parole Board, or Federal judges. It was an important first step in the evolution of inmate rights in federal prisons.

Today, thousands of letters and documents are preserved at the National Archives and Records Administration in San Bruno, California. This office holds the federal records for Alcatraz, including files related to the over 1,500 inmates who were imprisoned on the island. It’s a treasure trove of information for researchers, writers, and park staff. We frequently visit the archives to read through these original letters and documents, then return to the island to incorporate this knowledge into our tours and exhibits.
Thank you to our friends at the archives! The access you provide to these documents help us tell the history of the island to over 1.4 million visitors a year.

National Archives at San Francisco

đź“·Alcatraz Island staff looking through historic documents in the research room at the National Archives.
📷Letter from the files of Harold Swann (AZ 1289), scanned during a recent trip to the archives. In this letter, Swann’s mother writes to the Warden asking for an update on her son.

in 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified. This meant that a U.S. citizen's right to vote could not be denied or abridg...
08/19/2026

in 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified. This meant that a U.S. citizen's right to vote could not be denied or abridged on the account of s*x. For the first time in U.S. history, women could vote for federal elections.

In recognition of the Ratification of the 19th Amendment, we honor suffragist Alice Park. Park didn't merely limit her work to secure rights for herself. She fought hard for others, for strangers, for conscientious objectors imprisoned on Alcatraz.

"Those dungeons should be described again and again until people outside prison wake up and demand a change. If dogs cats and horses were to be confined to such places, the humane societies would act at once to release them and punish their oppressors... The government treats men worse than individuals are permitted to treat dogs."

After a visit to Alcatraz Military Prison in 1919, Park published the above words in a pamphlet titled "Dungeons in America." She was highlighting the imprisonment and poor treatment of conscientious objectors.

Conscientious objectors who refused to fight in WWI were court martialed and sentenced to years of hard labor. Park shared accounts of men on Alcatraz subjected to 14-day stretches in dark cells on a diet of bread and water.

"Dungeons in America" was distributed to over 200 editors. Publicity from Park and other activists led directly to improved conditions on the island. By 1921, Alcatraz had released all remaining conscientious objectors.

Learn more about Alice Park: https://www.nps.gov/people/alice-park.htm

đź“·: The Library of Congress

08/14/2026

How many birds can you name that nest on Alcatraz?

Meet Morgan Barnes. She’s got you covered. Consider this your crash-course on Alcatraz birding, straight from a National Park Service biologist.

Alcatraz is home to many nesting seabirds and waterbirds. For a few of these species, Alcatraz is the only breeding colony they have in the bay. Most seabird breeding colonies are on more remote islands, making Alcatraz a particularly special place for birding.

In summer, you can spot little chicks on their nests. How cute! Stop by the New Industries Building to see the Birds in a Changing Climate exhibit or learn more on our website: go.nps.gov/alcatrazbirds!

Video: A video shows many photos of birds that nest on Alcatraz, along with some pictures and videos of the people studying them using a variety of equipment in various areas on the Island.

Credit: NPS/Clair Sapilewski

NPS Photo/Morgan Barnes

Video #1: A video shows many photos of birds that nest on Alcatraz, along with some pictures and videos of the people studying them. The background is a picture of the ocean off the shore of Alcatraz.


On this day in 1948, President Truman issued Executive Order 9981, desegregating the U.S. Armed Forces. Meant to show ap...
07/26/2026

On this day in 1948, President Truman issued Executive Order 9981, desegregating the U.S. Armed Forces. Meant to show appreciation for the heroic efforts of servicemembers of all races during WWII, Truman’s Order signaled a major change in federal policy. Over the following years, more executive orders, legislative bills, and decisions by federal courts made it clear that segregation would no longer be the policy of the federal government.

Despite these policies, Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary remained a segregated institution. A vocal opponent of this segregation was Robert Lipscomb. Lipscomb was previously incarcerated at Leavenworth, where he earned a reputation as a “racial agitator” for protesting the disparity in his sentence. He received 25 years for counterfeiting $340, while white counterfeiters he met at Leavenworth often served much less time for much more money. While his “agitation” resulted in his transfer to Alcatraz, it did not end his fight against racial injustice.

Citing Executive Order 9981 and Brown v Board of Education, the Supreme Court decision ordering that public school be desegregated, Lipscomb argued that as a federal institution, Alcatraz should follow suit and end racial segregation. He wrote letters to judges, lawyers, civil rights advocates, and even Attorney-General Robert Kennedy pleading his case. Despite his impassioned protests, including stints in solitary confinement, Lipscomb remained at Alcatraz until its closure in 1963, still as a segregated facility.

📷: Alcatraz intake record for Robert Lipscomb. Under reason for being transferred to Alcatraz, it states that Lipscomb was a “self appointed lawyer for other inmates” and was a “constant source of agitation.” National Archives & Records Administration, San Bruno

📷: In 1960, Robert Lipscomb wrote this letter to H.R. Tyler Jr., Assistant Attorney General. In it, Lipscomb makes the case that Alcatraz has not been desegregated under recent Executive Orders and Supreme Court cases. He requests that he be transferred to another institution if Alcatraz is not integrated, finishing the letter by saying that he’s “ready for the new frontier!” National Archives & Records Administration, San Bruno

"You think we're the exception, but we are the norm when someone is given a chance." We had an inspiring start to the F...
07/14/2026

"You think we're the exception, but we are the norm when someone is given a chance."

We had an inspiring start to the Formerly Incarcerated Speaker Series on Alcatraz this May. Eric “Maserati-E” Abercrombie shared his story of transformation from incarceration to his current work in sound design, film, and music.

During these events, people with experience in prisons and jails share their transformational journeys, including ways they are helping other people through the reentry process today. In June, Mariah Cenea said, “We are responsible and accountable for our mistakes, but we are not defined by our mistakes.... My passion, my role, what I look forward to is to advocate for people inside to have access to rehabilitation."

Also in June, Alcatraz welcomed students of the Excell Network. After their presentation, one speaker reflected that, “when we tell our stories with honesty and hope, we create space for others to heal, connect, and believe that change is possible."

Join us on the island on July 18 for our next speaker, Aaron Lowers.

For the full summer schedule, head to https://go.nps.gov/FormerlyIncarceratedSpeakers

đź“·NPS Photos of this summer's speakers on Alcatraz.

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B201 Fort Mason
San Francisco, CA
94123

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 6:30pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 9:30pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 9:30pm
Thursday 8:30am - 9:30pm
Friday 8:30am - 9:30pm
Saturday 8:30am - 9:30pm
Sunday 8:30am - 6:30pm

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