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Gardening

Visitors enjoy Alcatraz Island.
The new Alcatraz experience: Now is the time to escape to Alcatraz Island!

In this article, we’ll get you set up with some tips to explore Alcatraz like a seasoned park ranger. Visit for those views, for the lush gardens, and the history that ties into present-day social justice movements. Here are some of our insider tips.

A group of colorful wildflowers in front of a disused federal penitentiary building on Alcatraz Island.
Just the essentials: How the Alcatraz gardens grow

For two months this year following the shelter-in-place order, the five gardens at Alcatraz grew wild and untended until Shelagh Fritz, the Senior Program Manager on the island, was able to return. The history of the Alcatraz Gardens is one of careful planning, wild growth, and dedicated work.

Volunteer on Alcatraz Island
(CANCELED) Alcatraz Historic Gardens

Upcoming Event Dates

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Help restore and maintain gardens once tended by the island’s military and penitentiary residents—add life, color, and vibrancy to the Rock.

Volunteers Working in Black Point Historic Gardens
(CANCELED) Black Point Historic Gardens
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Help us restore the long-neglected gardens of East Black Point, a spectacular park site tucked away above the bustling San Francisco waterfront.

Volunteers Working in Black Point Historic Gardens
(CANCELED) Black Point Historic Gardens

Help us restore the long-neglected gardens of East Black Point, a spectacular park site tucked away above the bustling San Francisco waterfront.

Presidio Volunteer
(CANCELED) Presidio Garden Stewards

Help enhance the Presidio’s historic gardens and grounds, as well as support the park efforts to become a model of environmental sustainability.

Presidio Volunteer
(CANCELED) Presidio Garden Stewards
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Help enhance the Presidio’s historic gardens and grounds, as well as support the park efforts to become a model of environmental sustainability.

Register Now
Presidio Volunteer
(CANCELED) Presidio Garden Stewards
-

Help enhance the Presidio’s historic gardens and grounds, as well as support the park efforts to become a model of environmental sustainability.

Register Now
Volunteers Working in Black Point Historic Gardens
(CANCELED) Black Point Historic Gardens

Help us restore the long-neglected gardens of East Black Point, a spectacular park site tucked away above the bustling San Francisco waterfront.

Volunteers Working in Black Point Historic Gardens
Black Point Historic Gardens

Help us restore the long-neglected gardens of East Black Point, a spectacular park site tucked away above the bustling San Francisco waterfront.

Register Now