Need a tow? Towing in Moorpark, CA
Moorpark sits at the top of the 23, where it meets the 118, and our tow trucks climb there from Thousand Oaks for campus-lot breakdowns, canyon-road recoveries and freeway stalls alike - wheel-lift, flatbed, winch or jump pack, priced before anyone drives north.
Stalled near the 23 and 118 junction: the drive up to Moorpark, and the detour when the 23 closes
Picture a car dead just short of the freeway junction. From Thousand Oaks it is about 11 road miles, on the easiest route we drive: north on the 23, the Moorpark Freeway, past exit 17 at Olsen Road and exit 19 at Tierra Rejada Road, to where the freeway bends east and turns into the 118. Tell us whether you stopped before or after that bend, and you get the arrival window along with the price.
Moorpark Road is the second link between the two towns. It drops out of Thousand Oaks down the Norwegian Grade, two steep miles into the Santa Rosa Valley with almost no shoulder, so a car stranded there takes a cautious hook-up. It is also our route whenever the 23 is closed.
And the 23 does close. On October 30, 2019, the Easy Fire, which began at the west end of Simi Valley, shut the Moorpark Freeway from Avenida de los Arboles to Los Angeles Avenue. On days like that the arrival window we give is built on the detour, and we explain that before you start waiting.
A late class, a canyon edge, a harvest-festival line: Moorpark's usual calls
The two highways swap roles at the junction. Heading east, the freeway becomes the 118, the Ronald Reagan Freeway, with exit 19A at Princeton Avenue and 19B at Collins Drive before it continues to Simi Valley. West of the junction the 118 turns into Los Angeles Avenue, a surface street through town, while the 23 leaves Moorpark to the north as Grimes Canyon Road.
Grimes Canyon Road winds to Fillmore past orange groves and sandstone cliffs, and road guides rate it among the more treacherous highways in Ventura County, with summer rock slides and winter mud. When two wheels sink into the soft dirt at its edge, the car needs a cable pull back onto Grimes Canyon Road before any tow, so we ask how far it sits from the asphalt.
A student walks out of a late class to a battery that has quit or keys locked in the car. Moorpark College sits at 7075 Campus Road, up Campus Road from Collins Drive, and its lots account for our evening calls. Campus rules matter: overnight parking needs the consent of the district police, and a car left overnight without it is presumed abandoned, so tell campus police if a dead car has to stay. On most nights, though, a jump or a lockout visit in the college lot gets it home.
In autumn there is festival traffic. Underwood Family Farms, 3370 Sunset Valley Road, holds its Fall Harvest Festival every day from September 26 to October 31, 2026, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; the farm has a single road in and out, warns visitors of slow traffic both ways, and works with the Sheriff and the CHP to keep cars moving. If yours stalls in that line, tell us your direction of travel.
Two agencies at one Spring Road address: Moorpark tows and street rules
Moorpark hires the Ventura County Sheriff's Office for its police work, and deputies act as the Moorpark Police Department from the Moorpark Police Service Center at 610 Spring Road. The CHP's Moorpark Area office lists the same address; its officers patrol the 23 north of the 101 and the 118 from SR 34 east to the county line. A tow ordered by either agency is therefore recorded on Spring Road, though each answers a different phone number.
- Deputy-ordered tows
- Moorpark Police Service Center, 610 Spring Road, (805) 532-2700
- Sheriff non-emergency line
- (805) 654-9511
- Freeway tows on the 23 and 118
- CHP Moorpark Area, 610 Spring Road, (805) 553-0800
- Road miles from Thousand Oaks
- about 11
Chapter 10.04 of the municipal code holds Moorpark's street rules. A car left 72 hours or more, or one that has not traveled at least a mile in 72 hours, is treated as stored on the street and may be removed by police, as may a car blocking a driveway, a hydrant or traffic, or one parked in a signed tow-away zone. Vehicles longer than 19 feet, wider than 7 feet or taller than 8 feet may not park on streets the city council has designated for that restriction.
When a car is removed from a private lot, Vehicle Code 22658 gives the property owner one hour after approving the tow to report it to the Moorpark Police Department, and the tow truck must release the car on request while it is still on the property. You can contest a deputy-ordered tow at a post-storage hearing if you request one within 10 days of the notice.
A crossover, a pickup or a stake-bed in Moorpark: which tow truck, and at what total
A dead sedan in a campus lot and a crossover off Grimes Canyon Road leave Moorpark on different tow trucks. The sedan, like any two-wheel-drive car or pickup, rides the wheel-lift; the crossover goes up the flatbed's deck, as does anything all-wheel drive, four-wheel drive, electric, lowered or crash-damaged. Our whole fleet is light-duty, so a loaded stake-bed, a motor home or a tractor is beyond us, and the first phone call tells you so.
On weekday commute hours the Freeway Service Patrol works the 118 from the 23 junction east to Rocky Peak; the 23 has no patrol beat of any kind. Anywhere off that beat, outside those hours, or for the trip to your own mechanic, the tow falls to us.
You decide where the car goes: a Moorpark garage, the dealer, your driveway, or a shop back in the Conejo Valley. We give one total before dispatch, driven mostly by mileage, and our towing price guide explains the remaining factors.
Where the 118 leads from Moorpark: Simi Valley east, Somis and Camarillo west
Continue east on the 118 and you reach towing in Simi Valley along the Ronald Reagan Freeway. To the west, Los Angeles Avenue carries the 118 toward Somis, where SR 34 turns south to Camarillo by way of Somis Road and Lewis Road. Back toward home we serve Newbury Park, Westlake Village and everything else on the main Thousand Oaks towing page.
Frequently asked questions
Which Spring Road number has my towed car?
For a street or lot tow, call the Moorpark Police Department, run by the Ventura County Sheriff's Office under contract: main line (805) 532-2700, non-emergency dispatch (805) 654-9511. Private-property tows land there as well, because the owner must report each within an hour of ordering it. If the CHP had the car pulled off the 23 or the 118, its Moorpark Area office at the same Spring Road address holds the record, at (805) 553-0800.
When does a parked car count as stored in Moorpark?
A parked car counts as stored at 72 hours. Under Moorpark's municipal code, a car sitting 72 hours or longer, or one that has not moved at least a mile in that time, counts as stored on the street, and police may remove it. Oversized vehicles have a separate restriction on streets the city council designates.
Can a dead car stay overnight at Moorpark College?
A dead car may stay overnight at Moorpark College only with permission. District rules forbid overnight campus parking without the consent of the VCCCD Police, and a car left overnight without it is presumed abandoned, so notify campus police before walking away. Often a jump gets the car home that night; if it does not, Thousand Oaks Tow Truck tows it off campus.
Can you reach a car stuck on Grimes Canyon Road?
A car stuck on Grimes Canyon Road is within our reach. The road is SR 23 north of Moorpark, a canyon route to Fillmore with rock slides in summer and mud in winter, and a car that slid onto its soft shoulder generally comes free by winch before any towing starts. Tell us the distance from the asphalt and which way the car points; if the job is too heavy for a light-duty tow truck, you hear so right away.
What does the 23 add to a Moorpark wait?
The 23 keeps it short: Moorpark is roughly 11 road miles from Thousand Oaks, nearly all on the Moorpark Freeway. Thousand Oaks Tow Truck states the arrival window by phone, since it depends on where our tow truck is at that moment and on whether the 23 is open.
Moorpark call checklist: the details that set your price
Your answers to these fix the Moorpark price during the call.
- Your position: freeway, direction and exit, or a street, a lot or a row in the campus lot
- Year and make: plus the model, noting all-wheel drive or electric
- What stopped it: will not start, hit, slid off the edge, a flat or locked out
- Where it ends up: your Moorpark mechanic or dealer, your driveway, or somewhere you have not picked yet