Tiburon, CA
(415) 435-3522
Angel Island Website
- Hours: The island is open daily. The cafe and bike rentals are open and tram tours run daily from April through October. During March and early November, they run Thursday thru Monday, and late November thru February, they're closed.
- Reservations: Not required (except for the Island Hop mentioned below)
- Cost: Day-use fee included in all ferry tickets. This state park does not accept the annual day use pass.
- Location: In the San Francisco Bay, accessible from San Francisco, Oakland/Alameda or Tiburon by ferry
- How Long: Allow several hours, depending on what you plan to do.
- Best Time to Visit: Spring through fall, when the tours are running and the cafe is open. On a clear day for the best views.
Angel Island Review
Because of its strategic location in the San Francisco Bay, Angel Island has been home to a long succession of peoples and activities, from the Coastal Miwok Indians who hunted here two thousand years ago to today's tourists who come to hike and see the sights.Angel Island Sights
Highlights of Angel Island sights, in order going counterclockwise from the Visitor Center:Built by the U. S. Army in 1863, Camp Reynolds is the oldest permanent settlement here, and today it's one of the best-preserved collection of Civil War military buildings in the country.
Almost a century later, an underground NIKE Missile silo was built on the southeast corner. It was decommissioned in 1962.
In the early twentieth Century, Fort McDowell, also called East Garrison, supplanted Fort Reynolds. This facility was used to process and stage troops for the Spanish-American War, as well as World Wars I and II. After World War II ended, the Army closed the camp and declared Angel Island surplus property. It lay unused until the Cold War.
Perhaps the most famous and interesting chapter in Angel Island's history was its life as Immigration Station from 1910 to 1940. Angel Island is sometimes called the "Ellis Island of the West" for this portion of its history. Here between 1910 and 1930, a miliion new immigrants were processed before beginning their lives in America. Because of exclusionist policies, many Chinese immigrants were detained here for long periods of time as officials checked and re-checked their paperwork. Out of frustration, many of them carved poems into the barracks walls, which are still visible today.
Guided tours of most of these locations are offered on weekends and holidays.
Things to Do on Angel Island
- Take a Tram Tour: The best way to get around Angel Island, tram tours leave several times daily. Pick up your tickets in the Cafe. On this hour-long tour, you'll visit Camp Reynolds, the Nike Missile Site, Fort McDowell and Immigration Station. Check the tour schedule as soon as you arrive on the island and buy your tickets early, as the tours sometimes sell out.
- Take a Segway Tour: Riding a Segway is so much fun you may forget to listen to what your guide has to say about the island's history, but you'll have fun no matter what.
- Walk the Perimeter Road: This 5-mile trip follows the same route as the tram tours. Rent an audio headset to take along a self-guided tour. For the half-hour walk to Immigration Station, take the paved road that starts near the Visitor Center.
- Hike: With 13 miles of foot trails and fire roads, you'll find plenty of places to go. Because of a wildfire in October, 2008, the hike to the top of 781-foot-tall Mount Livermore is closed.
- Rent a Bicycle or a Kayak: Rent a mountain bike and pedal around the island or hop in a kayak and paddle around it instead.
- Have a Picnic: Pick up something from the Cove Cafe, or you can bring your own charcoal and have a barbecue.
- Camping: With only a few campsites and such a pretty location, Angel Island is a popular place for camping, but they are also temporarily closed after the October, 2009 fire. Use our camping guide to plan your trip.
Tips for Visiting Angel Island
- Leave Bowser at home. Dogs are not allowed on Angel Island.
- The kids may just have to walk here. Roller skates, roller blades, and skateboards are prohibited.
- Avoid the cafe in the first few minutes after a ferry arrives, when the lines can get long. Ten minutes later, your wait will be much shorter.
- Keep track of the time. If you're stuck on the island after the last ferry leaves, you may have to pay a hefty fine to get off.
