Virtual Guidebook to Marin and the North Bay Counties
Angel Island - Two
Angel Island State Park in San Francisco Bay California

Fort McDowell, the East Garrison on Angel island, began as a detention center for troops returning from the Spanish American War, then greatly expanded as a recruit processing and training depot, with the impressive 600-man barracks, hospital, and officers' row. Its heyday was during World War II when more than 300,000 troops passed through on their way to the Pacific Theater. The facilities were closed soon after the war ended and now stand derelict or have been rehabilitated as residences for park employees.

The south side of the island has coastal defense batteries and a dismantled Nike missile base. The West Garrison is at Fort Reynolds, built during the Civil War and now partly restored, and includes a few backpack-type campsites.