Up the 23 to Moorpark: the route, the back road and the closures
Moorpark sits about 11 miles by road from Thousand Oaks, and the usual route is the simplest one we run: north on the 23, the Moorpark Freeway, past Olsen Road at exit 17 and Tierra Rejada Road at exit 19, to the point where the freeway swings east and becomes the 118. Tell us which side of that junction you are on, and the arrival window comes with the quote.
The other road between the towns is Moorpark Road, which leaves Thousand Oaks down the Norwegian Grade, a steep two-mile descent into the Santa Rosa Valley with hardly any shoulder. A car stopped on it is a careful pickup, and it is the way we come when the 23 is shut.
The 23 does shut. On October 30, 2019, the Easy Fire, which started at the west end of Simi Valley, closed the Moorpark Freeway between Avenida de los Arboles and Los Angeles Avenue. On a day like that the window we give you follows the detour, and we tell you so before you wait.
The junction, Moorpark College and Grimes Canyon: where the calls start
At the junction the two highways trade places. Eastbound, the freeway is the 118, the Ronald Reagan Freeway, with Princeton Avenue at exit 19A and Collins Drive at 19B before it heads for Simi Valley. West of the junction the 118 is a surface road, Los Angeles Avenue, through town, and the 23 leaves Moorpark northbound as Grimes Canyon Road.
Grimes Canyon Road runs to Fillmore through orange groves and sandstone cliffs, and road guides call it one of the more treacherous highways in Ventura County, with rock slides in summer and mud in winter. A car with two wheels in the soft dirt at its edge needs a winch-out on Grimes Canyon Road before it needs a tow, so we ask how far off the pavement it sits.
Moorpark College is up Campus Road from Collins Drive, at 7075 Campus Road, and its lots give us the evening calls: a battery that quit after a late class, keys locked inside. District rules matter here. Overnight parking is not allowed without the consent of the district police, and a car left overnight without it is presumed abandoned, so tell campus police if a dead car must stay; most nights, though, a jump start or lockout visit on campus means it does not.
Autumn adds its own traffic. The Fall Harvest Festival at Underwood Family Farms, 3370 Sunset Valley Road, runs daily from September 26 to October 31, 2026, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; the farm has one way in and out, warns of slow traffic in and out, and works with the Sheriff and the CHP to keep it moving. If a car quits in that line, tell us which way you were headed.
One address, two agencies: Moorpark's tow and parking rules
Moorpark contracts its police work to the Ventura County Sheriff's Office, and the deputies serve as the Moorpark Police Department from the Moorpark Police Service Center at 610 Spring Road. The CHP's Moorpark Area office gives the same address, and its officers patrol the 23 north of the 101 and the 118 east of SR 34 to the county line. So whether a deputy or the CHP ordered the tow, the record is on Spring Road, behind two different phone numbers.
- Police (Ventura County Sheriff)
- Moorpark Police Service Center, 610 Spring Road, (805) 532-2700
- Sheriff's dispatch, non-emergency
- (805) 654-9511
- The 23 and the 118
- CHP Moorpark Area, 610 Spring Road, (805) 553-0800
- From Thousand Oaks
- about 11 miles by road
Moorpark's street rules sit in chapter 10.04 of the municipal code. A car parked 72 hours or more, or one that has not moved at least a mile in 72 hours, counts as stored on the street, and police may remove it; they may also remove a car blocking a driveway, a hydrant or traffic, or one left in a signed tow-away zone. Oversized vehicles - longer than 19 feet, wider than 7 feet or taller than 8 feet - may not park on the streets the city council has designated for that rule.
For a car taken from a private lot, Vehicle Code 22658 has the property owner call the local traffic law enforcement agency, here the Moorpark Police Department, within one hour of authorizing the tow, and the tow truck must hand the car back on request if it has not yet left the property. A deputy-ordered tow can be challenged at a post-storage hearing if you ask within 10 days of the notice.
Which truck comes to Moorpark, and what the tow costs
A two-wheel-drive car or pickup rides the wheel-lift. Anything all-wheel drive, four-wheel drive, electric, lowered or crash-damaged goes on the flatbed, with nothing turning on the road. We are a light-duty operation, so a loaded stake-bed, a motor home or a tractor is too heavy for us, and you will hear that on the first call.
The Freeway Service Patrol's 118 beat starts at the 23 junction and runs east to Rocky Peak on weekday commute hours only, and the 23 itself has no beat at all. Off that beat, after those hours, or on the way to your own mechanic, the tow is ours.
Drop-off is your choice - a Moorpark garage, the dealer, your own driveway, or a shop back in the Conejo Valley. We quote one figure before the truck rolls, mostly from the miles, and how distance and the truck set the quote explains the rest.
Past Moorpark: Simi Valley, Somis and the way home
East on the 118, the next town is Simi Valley, from Madera Road to Rocky Peak. West, Los Angeles Avenue carries the 118 toward Somis, where SR 34 turns south for Camarillo, down Somis Road and Lewis Road. Back toward home, we cover Newbury Park, Westlake Village and the rest of our Thousand Oaks service area.
Frequently asked
Where do I find a car that was towed in Moorpark?
Call the Moorpark Police Department, the Ventura County Sheriff's Office under contract, on its main line at (805) 532-2700, or non-emergency dispatch at (805) 654-9511. A tow the CHP ordered off the 23 or the 118 is on record with the CHP's Moorpark Area at (805) 553-0800, at the same Spring Road address. Private-property tows reach the same desk, since the property owner must report each one within an hour of ordering it.
How long can a car stay parked on a Moorpark street?
Less than 72 hours. Moorpark's municipal code treats a car left 72 hours or more, or one not moved at least a mile in 72 hours, as stored on the street, and police may remove it. Oversized vehicles face a separate rule on the streets the city council designates.
My car died at Moorpark College at night - can it stay there?
Not without asking. District rules bar overnight parking on campus without the consent of the VCCCD Police, and a car left overnight without permission is presumed abandoned, so tell the campus police before you leave it. Often a jump start gets it home the same night; if not, we tow it off campus.
Do you tow on Grimes Canyon Road?
Yes. Grimes Canyon Road is SR 23 north of Moorpark, a canyon highway to Fillmore with rock slides in summer and mud in winter, and a car that has slid onto its soft edge usually needs a winch-out before any tow. Tell us how far the car sits from the pavement and which way it faces; a job past a light-duty truck's limit gets a plain answer on the phone.
How far is Moorpark from Thousand Oaks Tow Truck?
About 11 miles by road, most of it on the 23, the Moorpark Freeway. Thousand Oaks Tow Truck gives the arrival window on the call, because it depends on where the truck is and on whether the 23 is open.