Alcatraz at night offers an eerie experience
A military chapel is illuminated during a night tour on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco. (July 7, 2011) Credit: AP
When night fell on The Rock in San Francisco Bay, visitors moved shadowlike through the former prison's lantern-lit hospital rooms, a gloaming against dingy walls with peeling blue paint. A hard wind whooshed and rattled a window in the hospital cell where Robert Stroud, "The Birdman of Alcatraz," spent 11 of his 17 years when this was the dankest federal prison in the country.
Yet, most of the more than one million tourists who visit the former prison annually never get to experience Alcatraz Island at night or see its spooky, decrepit hospital -- experiences unique to the night tour. At dusk, the island prison that housed some of the nation's most notorious criminals is often enshrouded by fog, and the lamps on the grounds emit a ghostly glow.
What you'll see
The difference from the daytime tour is apparent from the start. The ferry from San Francisco motors past decrepit buildings. "This is a little eerie," said Gerard Lang, 28, who was visiting from Covington, Ky. "You kind of feel like you're heading to prison yourself."
After leaving the boat, visitors begin a winding ascent. Passing the guano- and rust-covered buildings that once housed the families of prison guards, the park's employees tell of a failed Friday the 13th, 1939, escape attempt -- one of many stories recited in gripping detail that are not included on the daytime tour.
Once inside the prison, the audio tour leads visitors through solitary confinement, where you can stand inside a dark cell and listen to the voices of inmates who spent time there. Close your eyes, and you can sense the isolation, the desperation.
If you're lucky and find a guide who isn't too busy, you can also ask to take a quick detour into "The Dungeon," another of the usually off-limits areas of the prison that can be accessed at night. As the sun sets and the lights inside the penitentiary dim, the employees open up the hospital at 8 p.m. Visitors walk through the dark rooms past old metal operating tables, the former X-ray room with windows painted black and the psych ward. The hospital visit is unique to the night tour, and it is a significant addition to Alcatraz's story.
If you go
ALCATRAZ NIGHT TOUR
When Thursdays-Mondays. Tickets are available about 60 days in advance; reservations recommended.
Admission $33 ($19.50 for ages 5-11)
Info alcatrazcruises.com
