The Conejo Grade is a 7%

grade Grade most commonly refers to: * Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance * Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage * Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope Grade or grading may also ref ...

incline on a section of US 101 (the

Ventura Freeway The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California, United States, running from the Santa Barbara/Ventura county line to Pasadena in Los Angeles County. It is the principal east-west route (designated north-south) through Ventura County a ...

). Also known as the Camarillo Grade, it links

Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, United States. It is in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown. It is named after the many oak tree ...

and cities of the

Conejo Valley The Conejo Valley is a region spanning both southeastern Ventura County and northwestern Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States. It is located in the northwestern part of the Greater Los Angeles Area. Communities in the Conejo ...

, with

Camarillo Camarillo ( ) is a city in Ventura County in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 70,741, an increase of 5,540 from the 65,201 counted in the 2010 Census. Camarillo is named for brothers Juan an ...

and the cities on the

Oxnard Plain The Oxnard Plain is a large coastal plain in southwest Ventura County, California, United States surrounded by the mountains of the Transverse ranges. The cities of Oxnard, Camarillo, Port Hueneme and much of Ventura as well as the unincorpora ...

. With a summit elevation of ,

California Highway Patrol The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is a state law enforcement agency of the U.S. state of California. The CHP has primary patrol jurisdiction over all California highways and roads and streets outside city limits, and can exercise law enfor ...

inspection stations for trucks are situated on both sides of the highway at the upper terminus of the grade. The

Conejo Mountain Conejo Mountain is a 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 fo ...

has functioned as a barrier by separating

Ventura County Ventura County () is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises the Oxnar ...

into East County and West County. Historically, the mountain was known for its many

jackrabbits Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live Solitary animal, solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are precociality, able to fend for themselves ...

and prickly pear cacti. The surrounding area was formed by volcanic eruptions millions of years ago, a rare geological formation in Southern California. Within the traditional lands of the

Chumash people The Chumash are a Native American people of the central and southern coastal regions of California, in portions of what is now San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, extending from Morro Bay in the north to Malibu ...

, they had a trading trail through the pass, and it later served as a trading route for farmers and their wagons down the Conejo Grade to the Hueneme wharf. The grade experienced improvements by the newly established State Highway Department in 1912, when the road measured long and had 49 curves. Traffic kept increasing and the road was straightened and relocated in 1935. The new road was a mile shorter and only had twelve curves.

History

Designated as part of the commemorative route of El Camino Real, the steep slope or grade was called the "cuesta del conejo" (slope of the rabbit). Early European settlers in the Conejo Valley, known as the

Norwegian Colony Norwegian Colony was a Norwegian community in Thousand Oaks, California, in the 1890s and early 20th century. They were among the first pioneers to settle in the Conejo Valley, and was perhaps the most successful colony in Ventura County at the tim ...

, needed a safe way to move bales of hay and sacks of wheat and barley to the Hueneme Wharf on the Oxnard Plain. After several mishaps while hauling crops down here and at the Potrero grade, they decided to construct a new route into the Santa Rosa Valley. The

Norwegian Grade The Norwegian Grade is a section of Moorpark Road from the Santa Rosa Valley, California, Santa Rosa Valley up into the Simi Hills and the city of Thousand Oaks, California, Thousand Oaks, within Ventura County, California. Completed in 1911, it ma ...

was carved out of a steep canyon hillside by members of the community and their hired help, between 1900 and 1911. Land for the highway was originally part of the

Rancho El Conejo Rancho El Conejo was a Spanish land grant in California given in 1803 to Jose Polanco and Ygnacio Rodriguez that encompassed the area now known as the Conejo Valley in southeastern Ventura and northwestern Los Angeles Counties. ''El Conejo'' is ...

, with contributions from

Adolfo Camarillo Don Adolfo Camarillo (29 October 1864 – 10 December 1958) was a prominent Californio philanthropist, ranchero, and horse breeder, known for founding the city of Camarillo, California, along with his brother Juan Camarillo Jr.blind curve {{Short pages monitor