Foothill College sits at 12345 El Monte Road, inside Los Altos Hills, and much of what happens there after dark is open to anyone. The Foothill Observatory runs free telescope nights. The Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures are free. The photography galleries ask nothing at the door. One thing changed this fall. On Monday, Sept. 21, the first day of fall quarter, the Foothill-De Anza Community College District ended five years of free parking and switched to digital permits, La Voz reported.
The events themselves still cost nothing. The charge is now at the parking lot, and it applies at every hour the campus is open to the public.
The rule, in the district's words
The district police department's Fall 2026 parking update states the rule:
Digital parking permits are required for vehicles parked at all Foothill-De Anza Community College District parking lots at Foothill College, De Anza College, and the Sunnyvale campus, during the day, evenings, and weekends, not just during regular business hours.
The system is called iParq, and your license plate is the permit, so nothing goes on the dashboard. Visitors buy permits through the FHDA Visitor Permit Store. La Voz reported the daily permit at $3. A quarterly visitor permit costs $55 and works at Foothill, De Anza and the Sunnyvale campus. Foothill's Community Education FAQ says parking "is $3.00 per day and is enforced 24/7."
Three account details apply to every visitor:
- Five dates at a time. The visitor permit guide lets you pick up to five dates in one daily-permit order.
- One car per account at a time. Only one vehicle registered to an account can be parked on district campuses at once. If a family drives two cars to the same concert, the second car needs its own account.
- Typos aren't forgiven. La Voz reported a $45 citation for parking without a valid permit, and the district will not dismiss tickets caused by a mistyped plate.
The fall and holiday calendar, with what parking takes
Here is everything on the public calendar from the post's publication through early December, with the lot and the parking arrangement for each.
| What | When | Where | Admission | Parking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home football vs. San Francisco | Sat., Oct. 31, 1 p.m. | Foothill stadium | Not posted | Daily visitor permit |
| Philip Sager artist talk and reception | Wed., Nov. 4, talk 3 to 4 p.m., reception 4 to 6 p.m. | Gallery 6100 | Free | Daily visitor permit |
| Almost, Maine | Nov. 6 to 22 | Lohman Theatre | $15 to $18 | Lot 8 pass with show code |
| Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture on dark energy | Wed., Nov. 18 | Smithwick Theater | Free | Daily visitor permit |
| PACO Holiday Extravaganza | Sun., Dec. 6, 3 p.m. | Smithwick Theatre | Tickets via PACO | Daily visitor permit |
| Observatory public viewing | Every clear Friday, 9 to 11 p.m. | Next to Lot 4 | Free | Daily visitor permit |
| Solar viewing | Every clear Saturday, 10 a.m. to noon | Next to Lot 4 | Free | Daily visitor permit |
Some evenings come with a code that covers parking. Most don't, and the sections below go through them one by one.
Friday telescopes depend on the weather
The Foothill Observatory holds public viewing every clear Friday from 9 to 11 p.m. and solar viewing every clear Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon, through white-light and hydrogen-alpha filters. The programs are free for visitors of all ages, and the observatory closes when it's cloudy. You'll find it beside Parking Lot 4 and the Krause Center for Innovation, Building 4000, reached from the El Monte Road exit off Highway 280.
The same observatory page still says, "Parking at Foothill College is free." That line is out of date. The district rule covers evenings and weekends, and 9 p.m. on a Friday falls inside it.
The weather rule also changes how to buy. Daily permits are valid only on the dates you choose. If you lock in five Fridays ahead of time, a run of fog could cost you $15 for nothing. The observatory points visitors to its Clear Sky Chart and to the Peninsula Astronomical Society webcam to check conditions and whether it's open. Since a plate-based permit can be bought the same day, the sensible order is to check the sky first and buy the $3 permit second.
The theater arranged its own parking
Foothill Theatre Arts is staging Almost, Maine at Lohman Theatre from Nov. 6 to 22. Evening shows start at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. The show runs about two hours with a 15-minute intermission, and it's recommended for ages 12 and up. Tix lists the Nov. 12 performance at $15 to $18 including fees.
New this season, every ticketed patron has to claim a digital parking pass for Lot 8, the closest lot to Lohman, before the show. The theater's steps are:
- Go to the visitor permit store.
- Enter MAINE2026 when it asks for a code.
- Choose your show date.
- Create an account and add your vehicle.
- Place the order. Your plate is the permit.
The theater says the parking pass and the show ticket are "two separate items and are not interchangeable." Buying a ticket doesn't register your car. The district's general guidance mentions this kind of arrangement, telling visitors who have a "pre-approved complimentary parking code" to enter it during checkout. Theatre Arts is the program on this fall's calendar that has set up one of those codes.
Two evenings at Smithwick Theatre, with no code posted
Smithwick hosts both of the season's biggest free-or-ticketed evenings, and neither event page lists a parking code.
The Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures are free, open to the public, and held on six Wednesday evenings each academic year. The next one is Wednesday, Nov. 18, when Dr. Alexie Leauthaud talks about dark energy. According to the SETI Institute's series page, Lot 1 is the closest lot to Smithwick and Lot 5 is level with the theater.
On Sunday, Dec. 6, at 3 p.m., PACO's Holiday Extravaganza brings all five PACO conductors and orchestras to Smithwick, along with the Peninsula Women's Chorus and cellists Alex Hersh and Coleman Itzkoff, with Scott Krijnen conducting. Tickets are sold through PACO's event page. A youth orchestra concert tends to draw families arriving in more than one car. Because of the one-vehicle-per-account rule, each car needs its own account and permit.
The galleries run on daytime hours. Philip Sager's Family Frames is in Gallery 6100 through Dec. 4. Listed hours are Tuesday 3 to 9 p.m., Wednesday 1 to 9 p.m., and Thursday noon to 5 p.m., and the photography department asks visitors to contact it to schedule a visit. Sager gives an artist talk on Nov. 4 from 3 to 4 p.m., followed by a reception until 6. Cut Short, by Ellen Konar and Steve Goldbland, is in the KCI Gallery on the lower level of Building 4000, also through Dec. 4. Details are on the department's fall exhibits page.
When the $55 quarterly permit is worth it
At $3 a day against $55 a quarter, the quarterly permit pays for itself on the 19th visit in a quarter. That changes the answer depending on how you use the campus.
Occasional visitors. Every clear Friday at the observatory, plus Almost, Maine, the Nov. 18 lecture and the Dec. 6 concert, adds up to a few dollars a week, well short of $55. Buy daily permits.
Early-morning regulars. Foothill Community Education runs fall bootcamps from Sept. 21 to Dec. 11. The Monday-Wednesday-Friday class meets at 6 or 7:15 a.m. for $250, and the Monday-through-Friday 6 a.m. class costs $385. Classes meet in small gym room 2501 or wherever the instructor designates. Three sessions a week for that stretch is far more than 18 parking days. However, the bootcamp listing says registrants receive instructions for a free quarterly pass with their confirmation, while the Community Education FAQ quotes $3 a day. Before paying $55, ask Community Education which one applies to your class.
Swimmers and track users. The Kinesiology and Athletics Division still advertises monthly and quarterly Fitness Center and Olympic Pool memberships through Community Education. But Community Education's own page says the pool "remains closed, as it is now fully drained." It says the district is collecting repair bids with no timetable and is "still looking at about a three-year delay." The eight-lane stadium track is listed as a rental facility at $60 an hour for for-profit groups and $48 for nonprofits. For now, the campus's athletic offer to the public is the bootcamps and the Oct. 31 home game against San Francisco.
You can still look through a telescope on El Monte Road for free on any clear Friday. The difference this fall is that your plate needs a $3 permit before you park beside Lot 4.
Planning around Foothill's calendar is part of everyday life in Los Altos Hills, and Straser Silicon Valley tracks changes like this one for clients who live near the campus or are thinking of moving there. Request a white-glove consultation, and we'll walk you through how the campus fits into daily life in the hills.
