
The Conejo Valley (
Spanish: ''Valle del Conejo'', meaning "Valley of the Rabbit") is a region spanning both southeastern
Ventura County
Ventura County () is a county located 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 ...
and northwestern
Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...
in
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
, United States. It is located in the northwestern part of the
Greater Los Angeles
Greater Los Angeles is the most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. state of California, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino County and Riverside County in the eas ...
area.
Communities in the Conejo Valley are
Thousand Oaks,
Newbury Park,
Westlake Village,
Oak Park,
Agoura Hills
Agoura Hills () is a city situated in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 20,330 as of the 2010 United States census, 2010 census, which decreased to 20,299 in 2020. Agoura H ...
,
Lake Sherwood and a portion of
Calabasas.
Etymology
In 1803, the Spanish land grant in the area was given the name
Rancho El Conejo.
In
Spanish, ''conejo'' means "
rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...
", and refers to the rabbits common to the region, specifically the
desert cottontail and
brush rabbit species.
History
Pre-colonial

The
Chumash people
The Chumash are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the central and southern coastal regions of California, in portions of what is now Kern County, California, Kern, San Luis Obispo County, California, San Luis O ...
inhabited region for thousands of years. Notable Chumash villages included
Satwiwa ("The Bluffs") in
Newbury Park,
Sap'wi ("House of Deer") in
Thousand Oaks, and Hipuk in
Westlake Village. Sap'wi (Šihaw Ven-632i) is located near
Chumash Indian Museum in
Oakbrook Regional Park. This park is also home to 4-6,000 year old
pictographs
A pictogram (also pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto) is a graphical symbol that conveys meaning through its visual resemblance to a physical object. Pictograms are used in systems of writing and visual communication. A pictography is a wri ...
, which can be observed on docent-led tours. Satwiwa, which was first settled 13,000 years ago, was located at the foothills of
Mount Boney, a sacred mountain to the Chumash people. The
Satwiwa Native American Indian Culture Center is available for visitors.
Two additional Chumash villages were found by Ventu Park Road. These had a population of 100-200 in each village, and were settled around 2,000 years ago. These former villages, known as Ven-65, Ven-260 and Ven-261, are located on private lands near Ventu Park Road in Newbury Park. A smaller village, known as Yitimasɨh, was located where
Wildwood Elementary School is located today. Artifacts retrieved in nearby
Wildwood Regional Park include
shell beads, arrowheads, and stone tools.
European exploration
Local villagers' first contact with Europeans came in 1770. The Spanish exploratory party led by
Gaspar de Portolá
Captain Gaspar de Portolá y Rovira (January 1, 1716 – October 10, 1786) was a Spanish Army officer and colonial administrator who served as the first List of governors of California before 1850, governor of the Californias from 1767 to 1770 ...
, returning from its journey up the coast as far as
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, entered the valley from the northwest. On the outward bound journey, the explorers had traveled up the
Los Angeles River
The Los Angeles River (), historically known as by the Tongva and the by the Spanish, is a major river in Los Angeles County, California. Its headwaters are in the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, and it flows nearly from Canoga Park ...
, then north to
Castaic Junction, then followed the
Santa Clara River back down to the coast. On the return trip, they sought a shorter route to the
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...
, and were guided by natives up and over the
Conejo Grade. Franciscan missionary
Juan Crespi kept a diary of the expedition, and gave Conejo Valley one name that survives today – Triunfo (Spanish for "triumph"). Crespi gave the name ''El triunfo del Dulcísimo Nombre de Jesús'' (in English: ''The Triumph of the Sweetest Name of Jesus'') to a camping place by a creek – today's Triunfo Canyon Road begins between Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village.
Later, explorer
Juan Bautista de Anza used Portolá's shortcut on his way north in 1774, mentioning in his diary a stop at "El Triunfo". On de Anza's second expedition (1775–76), diarist Father
Pedro Font referred to "many watering places, like those of El Triunfo and Los Conejos".
Ranching
Harold and Edwin Janss purchased ten thousand acres (40 km²) of land of what is now central Thousand Oaks from the heir of John Edwards, who had purchased the land from the de la Guerra heirs (all of the land was originally a portion of the
Rancho El Conejo land grant) in 1910. A ranch, named the
Janss Conejo Ranch, was utilized as a farm and to raise thoroughbred horses with the Santa Susanna Mountains and Simi Hills framing it. Television Westerns such as ''
The Rifleman
''The Rifleman'' is an American Western television series starring Chuck Connors as rancher Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the fictional town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show ...
'', ''
Gunsmoke
''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...
'', and ''
Bonanza
''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...
'' were filmed in Janss Conejo between the 1950s and 1960s. It was also used as the filming locations for Disney's ''
Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier'' and ''
Westward Ho, the Wagons!'' both starring
Fess Parker.
Geography

Conejo Valley is a valley. The area is bordered by the
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...
and the city of
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
to the east,
Simi Hills
The Simi Hills are a low rocky mountain range of the Transverse Ranges in eastern Ventura County, California, Ventura County and western Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, of Southern California, United States.
The range runs ma ...
to the north, Las Posas Hills and the
Santa Rosa Valley to the northwest,
Conejo Mountain (also known as Conejo Hills) and
Oxnard Plain to the west, and the
Santa Monica Mountains
The Santa Monica Mountains are a coastal mountain range in Southern California, next to the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Transverse Ranges. The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area encompasses this mountain range. Because of its p ...
to the south. The valley is located in the Santa Monica Mountains on an elevated area.
Economy
The largest non-retail employers in the Conejo Valley include
Amgen
Amgen Inc. (formerly Applied Molecular Genetics Inc.) is an American multinational biopharmaceutical Corporation, company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. As one of the world's largest independent biotechnology companies, Amgen has a ...
, the
Conejo Valley Unified School District,
Los Robles Regional Medical Center, Anthem Blue Cross,
California Lutheran University
California Lutheran University (CLU, Cal Lutheran, or Cal Lu) is a private university in Thousand Oaks, California, United States. It was founded in 1959 and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, but is nonsectarian. It o ...
, Shire Biotechnology, Skyworks Solutions, PennyMac Mortgage and Sage Publications. Other notable employers include Jafra Cosmetics, Teledyne, J.D. Power, Dole Food Company, Guitar Center, Bank of America and Teradyne.
Media
The
Ventura County Star is a daily newspaper published in
Camarillo, California and serves all of
Ventura County
Ventura County () is a county located 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 ...
, including the Conejo Valley.
''The Acorn'' is a local weekly newspaper covering
Agoura Hills
Agoura Hills () is a city situated in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 20,330 as of the 2010 United States census, 2010 census, which decreased to 20,299 in 2020. Agoura H ...
,
Hidden Hills,
Oak Park,
North Ranch and
Calabasas, while ''Thousand Oaks Acorn'' covers the cities of
Thousand Oaks,
Newbury Park and
Westlake Village.
Radio
KCLU is the only public radio station in
Ventura County
Ventura County () is a county located 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 ...
.
Tourism

In 2013 the Conejo Valley Tourism Improvement District (CVTID) was formed by the cities of Thousand Oaks and Agoura Hills. CVTID is a non-profit corporation that markets Conejo Valley as a Tourist Destination. Conejo Valley's two largest tourist attractions are the
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is the presidential library and burial site of Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States (1981–1989), and his wife Nancy Reagan. Located in Simi Valley, California, the library is administere ...
in Simi Valley and the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
Points of interest
*
American Radio Archives and Museum, one of the world's largest collections of radio broadcasting.
*
Conejo Valley Art Museum, art museum at
Janss Marketplace
Janss Marketplace is an outdoor shopping mall in Thousand Oaks, California. Previously known as Janss Mall, it opened in September 1961 as Village Lane. It was the first mall established in the city, and Thousand Oaks' only shopping center until ...
in
Thousand Oaks.
*
Conejo Valley Botanic Garden, botanical gardens, directly across from
Tarantula Hill.
*
Gardens of the World, botanical garden across
Thousand Oaks Boulevard from the
Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Center.
*
Grant R. Brimhall Library, one of the largest libraries in Southern California.
*
Joel McCrea Ranch, 19th century ranch at the bottom of the
Norwegian Grade. Listed on the
U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
*
Paramount Ranch
A movie ranch is a ranch that is at least partially dedicated for use as a set in the creation and production of motion pictures and television shows. These were developed in the United States in southern California, because of the climate.
Movie ...
, movie ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains of
Agoura Hills
Agoura Hills () is a city situated in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 20,330 as of the 2010 United States census, 2010 census, which decreased to 20,299 in 2020. Agoura H ...
.
*
Pederson House and Water Tower, home built by the
Norwegian Colony on the present day campus of
California Lutheran University
California Lutheran University (CLU, Cal Lutheran, or Cal Lu) is a private university in Thousand Oaks, California, United States. It was founded in 1959 and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, but is nonsectarian. It o ...
.
Ventura County Historic Landmark No. 45 and Thousand Oaks Historical Landmark No. 3.
*
Stagecoach Inn, museum and 19th century hotel in Newbury Park. Listed on the
U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
*
The Oaks, largest shopping mall in
Ventura County
Ventura County () is a county located 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 ...
.
*
Wildwood Regional Park, regional park bordering an additional of
open space reserve
An open space reserve (also called open space preserve, open space reservation, and green space) is an area of protected or conservation ethics, conserved land or water on which Real estate development, development is indefinitely set aside.
The ...
.
See also
*
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Valleys of Ventura County, California
Valleys of Los Angeles County, California
*
Santa Monica Mountains
Simi Hills
Valleys of California