Foothills Visitor Center
36.4911, -118.8256 · Park boundary: National Park Service
The Foothills Visitor Center is one mile east of the Ash Mountain Entrance on Generals Highway. Stop by for information, maps, books, gifts, water, and restrooms. Explore exhibits on foothills ecology and human history. Open year-round, except during weather, emergency, or operational closures. Operating hours vary seasonally. During the wilderness permit non-quota season, self-issue wilderness permits are available outside the Wilderness Office building behind the visitor center.
- Every day
- 8:00AM - 5:00PM
Foothills Visitor Center is open year-round, except during weather-related, emergency, or operational closures. Operating hours may vary.
- Late Fall, Winter, and Spring Hours -- Operating Dates and Hours Are Subject to Change · Oct 13, 2026 – May 19, 2027 · Every day 9:00AM - 4:30PM
Per the National Park Service, as of 2026-08-04
Per the National Park Service, as of 2026-08-04
Foothills Visitor Center is a Passport To Your National Parks stamp location.
On the Generals Highway 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the Ash Mountain Entrance.
The Foothills Visitor Center building is a Mid-Century Modern design. It is a one story, rectangular building with masonry, glass, and yellow-paneled walls. On one side is an extension in light yellow stucco. The main building has a low pitched gabled roof with wide overhanging eaves that shade the concrete walkway to the entrance doors. A masonry wall across from the main entrance creates a hallway to the restrooms. On front of the building from left to right: The National Park Service Emblem, in the shape of a brown arrowhead, pointed downward. Inside the arrowhead are the words in white lettering, “National Park Service” with a green sequoia tree shape to its left. Near the bottom of the arrowhead is a white buffalo silhouette set against a green meadow, with a white lake and snowcapped mountain behind it. A tall, narrow window with a yellow panel runs from the ground to the roof’s peak. Next to it is the Foothills Visitor Center Sign, with the words, “Foothills Visitor Center” and a colorful illustration of the head and shoulders of a quail, shown in profile. Its head is brown with a small pointed beak. The crown of the quail’s head has a curved black top knot that curls forward. A black and white streak curves behind the eye and along the black neck. The neck has rows of blue and black crescent shaped “feathers”. The shoulders are brown, and the breast is blue and brown. Behind the quail is the faint outline of a light green silhouette of yucca plant, with a spiky ball of leaves at the base, and a single tall spire of flowers, rising like a plume above it.
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