Alcatraz, built to hold the worst of the worst, is the last stop for repeat offenders and troublemakers from other prisons. These are the stories of desperate men willing to risk it all to escape the cold, dark cells of "the Rock."

ADX is the place for terrorists, serial killers, and anyone else who will never again see the light of day. Located in Florence, Colorado it's been dubbed the "Alcatraz of the Rockies."

The Hanoi Hilton is perhaps the most famous American POW prison of the Vietnam War located in the city of Hanoi. In Vietnamese its name literally means "hell hole" but even hell cannot break the will of some American POWS like John McCain.

A maximum-security prison on the banks of the Hudson, just 30 miles north of New York City, it gave rise to the term "being sent up the river". Home of the "Old Sparky", one of the first electric chairs in the world, which took over 600 lives.

Dannemora, located in the frigid Adirondack mountains, its nickname is "little Siberia." Officially called the Clinton Correctional facility, this foreboding prison is commonly known as Dannemora, named after the town where it is built.

San Quentin located in Marin County on the San Francisco Bay is California's oldest prison dating back to the gold rush, and home to the state's only gas chamber. Here three men have tried to find their way out of the prison's clutches.