CReATE STUDIO originally opened at a venue in Westlake Village in 2009 but is now a mobile art studio geared towards creative exploration using a varied array of recycled, artistic and crafty materials. All ages can create treasured masterpieces using many interesting and everyday household materials to build, tape, glue, paint and invent!
To learn more, visit www.createstudiofun.com.
The Oakbrook Vista Trail is a moderate out and back climb that provides nice panoramic views of the Lang Ranch area of Thousand Oaks. Access to the trail is on the south side of Lang Ranch Parkway, just east of Westlake Boulevard. See access point below.
The first portion is a narrow trail that zig zags its way to a bench, where you can rest and enjoy the views. But I'd estimate this is only 1/4 of a mile, so keep going if you're game!
After the bench, the trail opens up and continues up and up and up and if you reach the top, roughly a mile or so up the hill, you'll be enjoying 360 degree views towards Boney Mountain on the west, Lang Ranch/Woodridge trails on the north and more.
Same view as above, in May 2020.www.cosf.org/website/html/oakbrook-vista-trail.html
For a trail map and additional information, visit the Conejo Open Space Foundation website at cosf.org/trails/lang-ranch/lang-ranch-woodridge-easy-hike-oakbrook-vista-trail.
Paint ceramics with your friends and family at Color Me Mine at 23641 Calabasas Road, Calabasas. Pick from hundreds of ceramic pieces for kids, the kitchen, bath, pets and more. Design and paint them any way you like.
More information at www.calabasas.colormemine.com or call 818.222.4922.
UPDATE: Location at The Collection at Riverpark closed in November 2025. Studio anticipated to open at a new location in 2026.
Are you looking for a creative way to spend quality time with the ones you love? Paint ceramics with your friends and family at Color Me Mine Paint Your Own Ceramics Studio located at TBD.
Color Me Mine is a ceramic painting studio where you drop by anytime and paint a pre-made bisque pieces. For the price of a studio fee and the item you choose to paint, you can paint all day using 60+ colors and supplies! They then glaze and fire your work in a kiln and your work of art will be available in 5 to 7 days.
In addition to a vast array of tableware, painters can select from a variety of vases, frames, jewelry boxes, figurines, and more!
More information at www.oxnard.colormemine.com.
Color Café Pottery Painting Studio (previously As You Wish) is located at the Simi Valley Town Center. This is a large, nicely appointed ceramics/painting studio where you select a piece of pottery off the shelves, paint it and a few days later pick up your beautiful, glazed work of art.
Great place for birthday parties, team building, family nights, fundraising and more.
Visit color.cafe or call 805.520.9500 for more information. Open seven days a week.
Firefly Ceramics offers paint-your-own pottery at 1580 Saratoga Ave, Suite C, Ventura, just around the corner from Buena Lanes and Golf N Stuff! Firefly is currently (as of September 2024) open Monday through Friday from noon to 6pm and Saturday/Sunday from 11am to 6pm. Visit www.fireflyceramics.com for more information or call 805.650.1468.
My kids and I love going to the beach but for many years we seemed to go to the same ones all the time. So I stopped by the Automobile Club and asked them if they had a brochure on all the local area beaches open to the public. They shrugged their shoulders and said no such guidebook existed. They handed me a fold out map, which was of no use to me as I wanted to know exactly how to get to these beaches, if they have restrooms, parking, etc.
Then I started searching around for information and found bits and pieces in various locations that were marginally useful. So I decided to consolidate this information into one place where I could find out about where to go to the beach around Ventura County on up the coast to Carpinteria and Santa Barbara and down to Malibu. So I hope you find the following links helpful in finding local area beaches in Ventura County and surrounding areas!
This took a lot of time to compile over 60 local area beach areas, so I truly hope you benefit from these lists! So enjoy and provide feedback if you have comments and/or additional information.
At Leo Carrillo State Beach in Malibu.
Windsurfers at Surfers' Point in Ventura.
Located in Lang Ranch at the top of Westlake Boulevard near Avenida de los Arboles at 3290 Lang Ranch Parkway, Thousand Oaks, the Chumash Interpretative Center / Chumash Indian Museum contains Chumash artifacts and historical items, nature walks and tours of the beautiful local Oakbrook Regional Park area. The museum is open Saturdays 10 am to 4 pm and Sundays from noon to 4 pm. Admission is $8 for adults, $5 for seniors 65+ and $5 for children under 12 (as of October 2025). (UPDATE 2/27/26: THE MUSEUM ANNOUNCED IT WILL BE TEMPORARILY CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC ON WEEKENDS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. FOR UPDATES, VISIT THEIR WEBSITE.)
There is no charge to walk the trails in the park, which is open from sunrise to sunset daily.
The Chumash Indian Museum is located on a historical Chumash village site and contains a large collection of Chumash artifacts.
Stroll around the 436 acre Oakbrook Regional Park, a Ventura County historical landmark #90 (designated in 1983). More on Oakbrook Regional Park at www.crpd.org/oakbrook-regional-park
Contact the Center for more information about these and other events, field trips, weddings and birthday parties at www.chumashmuseum.org or 805.492.8076.
Examples of the Chumash Home - called an ‘ap (not to be confused with app). more on ‘aps at THIS LINK.
Beautiful canopied oak tree configuration at Oakbrook Regional Park, behind the Chumash Indian Museum.
The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Sea Center is a fun, engaging, interactive marine education facility located on Stearns Wharf. The Sea Center fulfills the mission of the Museum to inspire a passion for the natural world.
This is a not a huge museum but is worth a stop by with the kids every now and then. There's a shark tank where you can interact with and pet the sharks and other sea life, a 1,500 gallon tidepool tank and various other displays such as an octopus, moray eel, jellyfish, etc. There's also an area of where they dredge up sand and sea life from below and let you sift through it, looking for interesting things under easy to use microscopes.
Make a day of it in Santa Barbara, have lunch, stop by the Chase Palm Park, ride bikes along the beach, shop and eat on State Street, etc.
The Sea Center is located at 211 Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara and is open daily between 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM and closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve (at Noon), Christmas Day, and New Year's Day. As of March 2026, admission is $17 for ages 18-64, $15 for seniors (65+) and teens (13-17) and $13 for children (2-12). Or purchase a family membership at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and get in FREE anytime you want to both museums!
For more info visit www.sbnature.org/seacenter or call 805.962.2526.
Libbey Bowl and Libbey Park are located in the heart of Ojai near the corner of Ojai Avenue and Signal Street. Libbey Bowl was originally built in 1957 and has been used for the annual Ojai Music Festival, Storytelling Festival, Ojai Day event, holiday celebrations and many other community events through the years. Beginning in 2008, the bowl was renovated and in 2011 was reopened with a new look and design. It accommodates 1,300 people. Learn more about Libbey Bowl at www.libbeybowl.org.
Both Libbey Bowl and Libbey Park are named after Ojai's greatest benefactor, Edward Libbey, a glass manufacturer from Toledo, Ohio. Libbey donated the park to the city in 1917. In front of the park is a shaded pergola along the main "arcade" section of Downtown Ojai.
The park contains a community playground that was designed and built with the help of over 500 volunteers in 2015.
This is a photo of the OLD play structure that was replaced in October 2015.
The new playground!
There are also plenty of benches and seating areas, restrooms, shade trees and tennis courts at Libbey Park. Learn more on the City of Ojai website at www.ojairec.com/460/Libbey-Park.
The Satwiwa Native American Indian Culture Center is located at Rancho Sierra Vista / Satwiwa in Newbury Park. Sycamore Canyon, which cuts through Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa and Point Mugu State Park, was part of a Chumash trade route. Satwiwa, which means "the bluffs," was the name of a nearby Chumash village.
View of the Satwiwa area with the Center on the right and an Indian village area on the left.
In the Center is a variety of native Chumash items. Native American workshops, programs and art shows occur throughout the year. The Center is open 9 am to 4 pm on weekends, with rangers on hand to answer questions. There's a small gift shop in the Center too, as well as restrooms and a water fountain.
There is a Chumash house, or 'ap, on the grounds of the Center. It is made with willow trees and tule.
Inside the Culture Center. The table contains items that children are encourage to touch.
Small but nicely appointment gift shop in the Center has something for everyone.
Park in the adjacent National Park Service parking lot via Lynn Road to the access road at Via Goleta in Newbury Park.
Visit www.nps.gov/samo/planyourvisit/satwiwa-native-american-indian-culture-center.htm for more information.
Access point to the Rancho Sierra Vista / Satwiwa area in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area off of Lynn Road in Newbury Park.
The Anthony C. Beilenson Interagency Visitor Center is located at King Gillette Ranch, 26800 Mulholland Highway, Calabasas. It opened to the public in June 2012.
The Visitor Center is jointly operated by the National Park Service, California State Parks, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority.
It features exhibits and interactive displays, the work of local artists, tours of sustainable features and a native plant garden. There is a tremendously comprehensive exhibit covering things to see and do within the Santa Monica Mountains.
The Visitor Center was formerly the horse stable for the Gillette Mansion. It retains some of its original design while achieving LEED Platinum certification as the first "net zero" visitor center in the National Park Service. Cool! (literally and figuratively)
Visitor Center staff and volunteers are very friendly and helpful.
There's also gift shop in the center with a variety of items including books, handmade items, kids' items and more.
Call 805-370-2301 or visit www.nps.gov/samo/planyourvisit/visitor-center.htm.
Open Wed though Sun, 9am to 4pm. Closed Mon/Tues.
Nearby hiking is plentiful, including the Inspiration Point hike at King Gillette Ranch and across the street at Malibu Creek State Park.
We are fortunate to have such great trails and views of Boney Peak from in Newbury Park. At Wendy and Potrero is the Western edge of the Santa Monica Mountains where Sycamore Canyon cuts through Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa and Point Mugu State Park.
Roughly a mile easy hike from Wendy/Potrero gets you to the Satwiwa Native American Indian Culture Center where you can explore some native Chumash items and educational information and chat with rangers. This is a nice little hike to take the kids on. There are restrooms and water at the center, which is open from 9am to 4pm on weekends.
Learn more about hiking in Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa at THIS LINK.
You can get easier access to the center by parking in the adjacent National Park Service parking lot via Lynn Road to the access road at Via Goleta in Newbury Park.
Another mile and a half of hiking gets you to a small waterfall, which is fun to check out with the kids but somewhat more strenuous of a hike. Note that in recent years (2012-2015), the waterfall has barely flowed due to low rainfall.
Here is more information about the Boney Mountain Trail, leading up to Hidden Valley Overlook, the waterfall and Danielson Monument.
Visit www.nps.gov/samo/planyourvisit/rsvsatwiwa.htm for a map and site information on the National Park Service website.
Trailhead at the corner of Wendy Drive and Potrero Road in Newbury Park. Park on the dirt on the south side of Potrero or on the street on Wendy.
Conejo Valley Guide covers events, activities and things to do throughout Ventura County and surrounding areas.
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