Thousand Oaks is a city in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately 15 miles (24 km) from the city of Los Angeles and 40 miles (64 km) from Downtown. The second-largest city in Ventura County, California, it is named after the many oak trees present in the area.
Newbury Park is a populated place and town in Ventura County, California, United States. Most of it lies within the western Thousand Oaks city limits, while unincorporated areas include Casa Conejo and Ventu Park. The town is located in Southern California around 8 miles from the Pacific Ocean and has a mild year-round climate, scenic mountains, and environmental preservation. About 28,000 residents of Thousand Oaks reside in Newbury Park.
The Stagecoach Inn Museum in Newbury Park, California, originally known as the Grand Union Hotel, was used as a resting area for people who traveled from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara. Besides a hotel and stagecoach stop, it has also been used as a post office, church, restaurant and military school. It is California Historical Landmark No. 659 and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It played a major role in the development of the stage line transportation network in California. The hotel was also the first business venture in the Conejo Valley.
Arroyo Conejo is the longest creek in the Conejo Valley, sprawling over the cities of Thousand Oaks and Camarillo, and the communities of Newbury Park, Casa Conejo and Santa Rosa Valley. Arroyo Conejo is the primary drainage for the City of Thousand Oaks. Its watershed covers 57 square miles (150 km2) of which 43 square miles (110 km2) are in the Conejo Valley and 14 square miles (36 km2) in the Santa Rosa Valley.
Rancho Conejo Playfields is a 13 acres (5.3 ha) multi-use community park in Newbury Park, California, adjacent to Conejo Canyons Open Space and the Arroyo Conejo Nature Preserve which includes 302 acres (122 ha) of public open-space land and numerous trails in the western Simi Hills.
Walnut Grove Park is a 6.5 acre community park in Newbury Park, California, United States, situated immediately south of the U.S. 101 Ventura Freeway on Newbury Road. Named for its many walnut trees, the park land was acquired in 1981 and ultimately developed into a community park in 1994. It contains a playground, an outdoor handball court, three BBQ grills, basketball courts, numerous picnic tables, trails, and open-space. It is operated by the Conejo Recreation & Park District (CRPD), and it is adjacent to the Walnut Grove Equestrian Center and its 14 acres of trails, horse arenas, stalls, picnic tables, and various trails for hikers and equestrians. The park is relatively close to the Arroyo Conejo Open Space and its many trails leading for instance to Wildwood Regional Park, which is accessible from its closest trailhead between 507 Kalinda Pl. and 504 Paseo Grande on West Hillcrest Drive. Walnut Grove Park is located along a smaller offspring from the Arroyo Conejo, and is one of only three off-leash dog parks in the Conejo Valley.
Rabbit Hill, also referred to as Knoll Hill, is a 797-foot high hill (243 m) located in Knoll Park, which is among the highest peaks in Newbury Park, California that are not parts of the Santa Monica Mountains. It is reached from a trailhead on North Reino Road, just across the road from the Pepper Tree Playfields, which provides hikers to Rabbit Hill with parking spaces. The sloping Knoll Trail goes from N. Reino Rd. to the top of the knoll, which offers panoramic views of Newbury Park, Casa Conejo, Boney Mountain, Thousand Oaks and Conejo Mountain. The total park area is 21 acres (8.5 ha) including the hill, which is covered with coastal sage scrub and grassland.
Newbury Gateway Park is a seven-acre neighborhood park, located across the street from Newbury Park Library in western Newbury Park, California. The most notable attraction here includes the endemic plant and tree species, including an oak grove with over a hundred planted native oak trees. It contains picnic areas, a playground, turf area, and seating benches. First acquired in 1984, the open space area added four additional acres of land and was developed into a neighborhood park by the Conejo Recreation & Park District (CRPD) in cooperation with Thousand Oaks in 1999. Newbury Gateway Park was closed for nearly a year in the 2012-2013 period as a result of a major drainage problems.
The Conejo Canyons Open Space consists of 1,628 acres (659 ha) of open-space areas in northernmost Newbury Park, Ventura County, California. It consists of deeply eroded canyons, numerous ridgelines and plateaus in the northwestern portion of the Conejo Valley. The area consists of diverse natural features such as deep canyons with perennial streams, prominent ridgelines, volcanic mountains, and a variety of natural habitats. While some of the flora includes chaparral, riparian habitats, oak woodlands and coastal sage, fauna includes mountain lions, coyotes, mule deer, and bobcats.
Knoll Open Space, also known as Knoll Park, is a 21 acres (8.5 ha) open-space area in western Newbury Park, California, United States, adjacent to Pepper Tree Playfield. The Knoll Open Space is owned and operated by the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency (COSCA), and the flora here includes coastal sage scrub and grass. The 1.9 miles (3.1 km) Knoll Trail goes from its trailhead at North Reino Road and leads to the top of Rabbit Hill. The hill offers panoramic views of the Conejo Valley, Santa Monica Mountains, Conejo Mountain, and Boney Mountain.
Borchard Community Park is a public park located in western Newbury Park, CA. Situated adjacent to both the Newbury Park High School and the Borchard Maintenance Shop, the park is situated at the corner of Reino Road and Borchard Road at the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. The park encompasses 29 acres, which is home to various courts for recreational sports, fitness area, community rooms, a farm themed playground, picnic areas, several fields, and a skate park. The park was established by the Conejo Recreation & Park District (CRPD) in 1969. It has two volleyball courts, four tennis courts, two stages, three softball fields, a basketball court, barbecue grills, two bocci courts, a gymnasium, horseshoe pits, a kitchen, a soccer field, two playgrounds, and more.
Banyan Park is a 7.4 acre community park at the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains in southern Newbury Park, California. The park is approximately 800 feet from the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and is adjacent to the Banyan Elementary School. It was the first park to be acquired by the Conejo Recreation & Park District (CRPD) in 1964, and was later developed into a park in 1967. The park includes a hilltop gazebo, turf, picnic tables, barbecues, and playgrounds.
Cypress Park is a five-acre neighborhood park in southwestern Newbury Park, California. Acquired in 1969, the land was developed into a community park in 1973 with a baseball field, a playground, picnic tables, and bleachers. It is owned and operated by the Conejo Recreation & Park District (CRPD). Situated immediately south of Cypress Elementary School, the park is also home to several ponds and smaller creeks. It is used for bird-observations, recreational activities, picnicking, and camping.
Dos Vientos Community Park in southwestern Newbury Park, CA is the largest of Conejo Recreation & Park District’s public parks in the Conejo Valley. It is adjacent to the Dos Vientos Community Center, which offers a preschool, sports, and other activities. The park contains sand volleyball courts, baseball-, basketball- and tennis courts, soccer fields, playground areas, and picnic tables and barbecue grills. It is adjacent to the Dos Vientos Open Space through the Park View Trail, which is a 1,216 acre natural open-space, bordering an additional 16,000 acres of open space stretching over the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area to the Pacific Ocean. The Park View Trail ends at Via Ricardo, directly across the road from the Powerline Trail and Dos Vientos Open Space.
Conejo Mountain is a 1,814-foot-high mountain (553 m) in Ventura County, California near Camarillo on the eastern boundary of the Oxnard Plain. At the western edge of the Conejo Valley, it is adjacent to the Santa Monica Mountains. Crossing what was once a formidable barrier for travelers, U.S. Route 101 passes through the area on the steep Conejo Grade.
Arroyo Conejo Open Space is a 302-acre (122 ha) open space reserve in the western Simi Hills in northern Newbury Park, Ventura County, California. Most of it is part of the 250-acre (100 ha) Arroyo Conejo Nature Preserve.
Dos Vientos Open Space is a 1,216 acres (492 ha) open space area in western Newbury Park, California. It contains more than 41 miles (66 km) of trails used for cycling, hiking and equestrians. Originally a part of the Rancho Guadalasca Spanish Land Grant of 1836, the area is now an important wildlife movement corridor into the Santa Monica Mountains through the Point Mugu State Park. It provides a habitat for a variety of wildlife, including bobcats, mule deer, coyotes, eagles, hawks, barn owls, mountain lions, and more. It provides regional and internal trail connections, many trails offering panoramic views of the Conejo Valley, Oxnard Plain, Topatopa Mountains, Channel Islands, and the Pacific Ocean. Some of the endangered plant species found here include Conejo buckwheat, Verity's liveforever, and Conejo dudleya. The landscape is undeveloped, and dominated by coastal sage scrub, grassy hillsides, oak woodlands, and chaparral habitats.
Ventu Park Open Space is a 141-acre open space area in Newbury Park, California. Its primary features are the Rosewood Trail leading to Angel Vista, a 1,603 ft peak in the Santa Monica Mountains. Parking for the Rosewood Trail is located at the Stagecoach Inn Park, across Lynn Road from the primary trailhead. The Rosewood Trail begins with oak woodland and crosses a creek at the canyon floor, before climbing up towards the steep Angel Vista Point. There are 360-degree panoramic views of the Conejo Valley, the Oxnard Plain, the California Channel Islands, Pacific Ocean, Point Mugu, Hidden Valley, as well as the Santa Monica-, Santa Susana- and Topa Topa Mountains.
Conejo Recreation and Park District (CRPD) is the park management agency for most of the parks in the Conejo Valley, California. Established in 1962, CRPD later established Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency (COSCA) in 1977 through a joint effort with the City of Thousand Oaks. COSCA administers over 15,000 acres of open space and 140 miles of trails, while CRPD administers over 50 community parks. In 2019, CRPD's annual operating budget was $20 million, of which about 70% comes from property taxes.
Newbury Road is the main street in Newbury Park, California, and runs parallel to the U.S. Route 101. The road is named for the town’s founder, Egbert Starr Newbury. The historic Newbury Park Post Office has had several locations on Newbury Road, including at the Stagecoach Plaza, a shopping complex with a name that implies the stagecoach heritage of the area. Stagecoach Plaza houses 14 restaurants and shops, and it is adjacent to additional shops on both sides.
