Alcatraz Tours at Night: The Best Alcatraz Tour

A notorious prison in California’s San Francisco Bay is on everyone’s bucket list and it is one of the top U.S. attractions. Tickets sell out months in advance, especially for its night tour, which feels like a movie set from a 1980s horror flick. Though should you visit Alcatraz with kids?  On a recent West Coast road trip, my teenage kids asked all day when we were going to Alcatraz. Seriously. It was their favorite national park site of the summer after stopping at most of the national park sites on the West Coast. Read on to discover what it’s like to take an Alcatraz Tours at Night, with or without kids.

Alcatraz At a Glance

The Alcatraz Tours 

There is only one way on the island of Alcatraz. However, there are lots of scenic cruises that will take you around the island. If you want to tour Alcatraz, make sure you book the right tour for your trip.

There are three types of tours for Alcatraz: the day tour, the night tour and the behind-the-scenes tour.

Alcatraz Day Tour

The day tour is the most common and departs daily from Pier 33. It lasts about 2.5 hours and includes the ferry ride from Alcatraz Island.

Once on the island, an audio tour, available in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Mandarin, will guide you through the different areas of the prison.

Ferries depart at 8:40 a.m. and run until 3:40 p.m., depending on schedule.

Alcatraz Behind the Scenes Tour 

A small group tour of less than 20 people with a one-and-a-half to two-hour guided tour by a Park Ranger. Explore areas that are typically off-limits to Day Tours. This tour also includes an audio tour, and the total experience lasts about four hours. The ferry departs at noon on Thursday to Monday.

Note: Kids under 12 are prohibited from the Alcatraz Behind the Scenes Tour.

Alcatraz Night Tour

The Alcatraz Night Tour offers serval departures. The final tour of the day is the most popular and sells out the quickest.

Stop by the Ranger Station at the dock and pick up a Junior Ranger booklet. Take the tour, finish the booklet and turn it back into the park ranger for a special badge.

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Should You Take the Alcatraz Tours at Night

A walk through Alcatraz at twilight is creepy and borderline scary.  Seriously, it is dimly lit There’s an original hospital ward and the place is covered in peeling paint. But tweens and teens love to walk the line between scary and creepy so it’s perfect for them.

I have a girl and two boys, and my boys are fascinated by prisons. So, I decided to tour the prison that defines hard-core prison life. I don’t want them to think life behind bars is glamorous or cool.

For younger kids, the subject matter and the location might be too much for kids under 12. The facility itself isn’t stroller-friendly, and the prison interior is dark.

However, it’s not all creepy. The boat ride is a treat, especially if the weather is clear. The views of downtown San Francisco can’t be beaten; they’re really stunning. If you book the evening tour, the ferry ride at sunset is top-notch.

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How Did A Prison Become A National Park?

In 1915, Alcatraz was renamed the United States Disciplinary Barracks, Pacific Branch, a military prison. During the Great Depression, Alcatraz transferred from the War Department to the Department of Justice. Soon after, it became a high-profile, maximum-security federal penitentiary.

Home to the worst of the worst, infamous inmates like Al Capone, along with others with nicknames like Creepy, Doc, Machine Gun, and Birdman of Alcatraz, were all incarcerated on The Rock. Inmates that caused problems in other prisons, came to Alcatraz too.

After the prison closed in 1963, Native Americans occupied Alcatraz island in effort to claim it for all tribes. Support dwindled and in 1972, Alcatraz became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

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Details of Alcatraz Night Tour

Alcatraz is one of the places you have to visit to understand. Pictures can be haunting, but walking through the cell block as the dabbled light casts a ghostly glow is eerie.

We took the Night Tour to explore Alcatraz during the twilight hours. The audio tour entranced all three of my kids, and we explored the Cell House at our own pace.

A special feature of this tour is the Cell House lockdown. A Park Ranger unlocks then locks all the cell doors on the cell block at once. A must if you take the Night Tour.

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The Alcatraz Hospital Ward

This tour is especially creepy since the setting sun casts deep shadows throughout the prison. However, the creepiest place in the facility is the original hospital ward.

Opened in 1934, it treated inmates, federal employees, lighthouse employees and the civilians on the island like families of employees. The equipment is in its original condition and shows its age. The Hospital Ward features a surgery room, three wards, a dental and doctor’s offices.

Al Capone and Robert Stroud, aka Birdman, spend a lot of time in the infirmary.

The hospital ward is particularly eery in the evening, and the lighting is limited. It might be too scary for younger kids, so my 9-year-old decided to skip this portion of the tour.

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The Birds of Alcatraz

The birds came first, though they moved on after humans occupied the island in the 1850s. When the prison closed in 1963, the birds returned to the protected location that lacked natural predators.

The island offers a refuge for over 5,000 birds today. The waterbirds include Pigeon Guillemots, Snowy Egrets, Western Gulls, Black-crowned night herons and Brandt’s Cormorants. Some areas of the island may close to protect nesting birds that will abandon their nest if humans come too close.

Birders, remember your binoculars and grab the brochure, Waterbirds of Alcatraz, at the kiosk after disembarking the ferry.

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The Gardens of Alcatraz

The gardens still bloom off the most surprising feature of the former high-security prison. Sprinkled throughout the property, residents planted the gardens in the late 1800s.

The gardens flourished until 1963, when the prison closed, thanks to reclaimed water, greenhouses, and specially trained inmates. Over 230 species of ornamental plants, including roses, calla lilies, bearded irises, agapanthus and hydrangeas, still flourish on Alcatraz.

Garden lovers, grab the brochure, The Gardens of Alcatraz, at the kiosk after disembarking the ferry for more information.

Get the App!

The National Park Service developed an NPS Golden Gate App, which covers Alcatraz Island and other NPS sites around San Francisco. The app includes an interactive map, hidden stories and up-to-date ranger information.

Where to Eat at Alcatraz

Got hungry kids? The Landing at Alcatraz, the ticketing and boarding area off The Embarcadero, offers a cafeteria with family options, rain ponchos, and souvenirs. Food service is not available on Alcatraz Island. Only bottled water is permitted on the tour.

You can picnic if you bring food and carry it in a backpack. Coolers are not allowed. There are picnic tables where you exit the boat on Alcatraz Island.

History of the Alcatraz Island

Derived from the Spanish word alcatraces, or seabirds, the island has been home to birds for generations. In the 1850s, the island became a military fortress due to its strategic positioning in the San Francisco Bay.

A lighthouse was needed since the shipping traffic increased in and out of San Francisco after the gold rush. In 1854, the Alcatraz Island Light became the first lighthouse on the West Coast.

During the Civil War, Alcatraz Island housed 400 soldiers and numerous cannons to protect the port. However, in 1907 the U.S. Army decommissioned Alcatraz. The island always housed prisoners from the early days as a military fort. Soon after its decommissioning as a fort, military guards built a cell house.

Getting to Alcatraz Island

Alcatraz Island is located in the San Francisco Bay and is reached by ferry only. The Alcatraz Ferry Terminal is located at Pier 33 on The Embarcadero. Alcatraz Cruises is the only ferry that stops at Alcatraz Island.

Parking is an issue while visiting Downtown San Francisco. During my trip, I used public transportation and left my car at my hotel.

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Know Before You Go:

• Tickets go on sale 90 days in advance.
• Alcatraz Island, or ‘The Rock”, is hilly and requires climbing. Motorized transportation is limited.
• Luggage larger than a standard backpack is not allowed.
• A photo ID is required for the purchaser of the tickets.
• Give yourself at least two-and-a-half hours for the tour.
• Bring a jacket and rain gear since the weather is unpredictable.
• Make reservations for this popular tour months in advance, especially for the evening tour.
• In mid-August, flies that hatch from the bird colonies and swarm.
• The Self-Guided booklet, Discover Alcatraz – A Tour of the Rock, costs $1.
• The tour includes an audio tour headset.