Thousand Oaks

Thousand Oaks is a city in Ventura County in Southern California. It is the largest city in the Conejo Valley, which it shares with Agoura Hills and Westlake Village. Newbury Park on the west and Oak Park on the east are districts of Thousand Oaks.

Get in
Thousand Oaks is best accessible by automobile. It sits at the junction of the California Route 23 and United States Route 101 Freeways. The 101 connects to the San Fernando Valley through Agoura Hills. On the west, it crosses the conejo grade and connects on to western Ventura County and points along the Central Coast. The freeway portion of the 23 travels north to Simi Valley and Moorpark.

The Conejo Valley is also connected to points west and south through several scenic canyon roads through the Santa Monica Mountains. The Oxnard Plain can be reached on Potrero Road, which twists and turns through a steep ravine to emerge near California State University Channel Islands (Formerly Camarillo State Mental Hospital). Visitors can reach Malibu and the Pacific Ocean by Westlake Boulevard (designated as the southern portion of California 23). These roads can provide stunning vistas, and are frequented by bicyclists, motorcycle and car clubs, and the occasional group of joyriding teenagers, so visitors are advised to be aware of their surroundings, share the road, and exercise caution.

Airports in close proximity to Thousand Oaks are Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Hollywood Burbank Airport in Burbank. There are also small public airports in Camarillo, Oxnard, and Santa Paula, but these are general aviation only and offer no commercial service.

Public bus service is available from Los Angeles, Oxnard, and other towns in the area, but may not be very frequent.

Get around
Like much of suburban California, Thousand Oaks is designed around travel by car, and walking or biking can be difficult or even hazardous due to traffic. Some of the primary retail and commercial streets do have dedicated bike lanes, however.

Public transit options are minimal, but Thousand Oaks does offer the TOT busline, but service is sporadic and runs only every hour to hour-and-a-half. The western terminus of Los Angeles County's LA Metro bus #161, connects from the Metro Orange Line stop at Warner Center in the San Fernando Valley at the Thousand Oaks Transit center just west of the southbound US-101 Rancho Road exit.

Do

 * The Santa Monica Mountains south of Newbury Park offer some beautiful hiking trails. Access is located at the end of Lynn Road.
 * Two Winds Ranch on Reino Road offers horseback riding, with both regular lessons and day rides on the trails in the mountains.
 * Two Winds Ranch on Reino Road offers horseback riding, with both regular lessons and day rides on the trails in the mountains.

Go next

 * Camarillo. A quiet bedroom community living alongside one of the largest factory outlet complexes in the greater Los Angeles area.
 * Los Angeles. Visit the de facto home of the entertainment industry, and the largest city in the western United States. L.A. is an enormous city with an extremely varied geography.
 * Malibu. An exclusive coastal community and home to the rich and famous, and features miles of beautiful public beaches.
 * Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. Known as "Los Angeles' Backyard" this national park contains both the mountains and the beaches.