"There's less people around, so you can kind of enjoy San Francisco almost like a local," said Santos, standing in line for the Alcatraz ferry on her third visit to the city. "It's a little bit refreshing, actually."

Here’s how a desolate rock in the middle of San Francisco Bay became a tourist hotspot—and horticultural haven.

The move comes after the National Park Service, which owns Alcatraz, has been steadily reopening other national parks, including Yosemite, Muir Woods, Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Pinnacles and others, often with reduced visitation and closed visitor centers.

Two peregrine falcons are doing what few creatures in history have decided to do — take up residence on Alcatraz by choice and start a family. The falcons enjoy the fabled prison site so much they built themselves a nest on the west side of the island — believed to...

"It’s an escape from what’s going on out in the world," said Muir Woods visitor Barbi Martinez. "But it’s also a reminder that there’s beauty."