Alcatraz: More Than a Prison Tour

Inside the cellhouse, the Bay’s romance gives way to concrete, steel, echoing corridors, and cells barely wide enough for a toilet, a sink, and a narrow bed.

The award-winning audio tour was recently updated and remains the essential introduction, using first-person accounts to bring former incarcerated men and correctional officers to life.

“It recreates the sound of the foghorn, the gulls, the wind, and footsteps in the corridors,” said Sean Kelley, vice president of visitor programs and services at the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.

The tour has evolved to align with our vision to make Alcatraz a place of reflection on justice and our common humanity, he said.

“We’ve made some space to add reflections on what’s happening in prisons today, and of course, reflection on the American Indian occupation of this island.”

Earlone Woods of the acclaimed San Quentin Earhustle podcast is one of the new narrators. His podcast launched in 2017 when he was serving a 31-year-to-life sentence at San Quentin State Prison.