Libraries In and Around Ventura County

There are nearly 20 libraries in Ventura County and adjacent areas. Click the book cart for a link to them!

Beads of Paradise in Ventura

Located at 1792 Callens Rd Suite C in Ventura, Beads of Paradise offers workshops, classes for beginners to advanced beaders and a large inventory of beads, as well as jewelry making classes. Visit beadsofparadise.com or call 805.642.5050 for more information.

Conejo Recreation & Park District - Thousand Oaks

The Conejo Recreation and Park Districthas served the Conejo Valley since 1963 and covers 66 square miles with a population of over 140,000 people in Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park and the Ventura County portion of Westlake Village. 

The Recreation Division conducts over 3,000 organized recreation and leisure programs each year.  The Parks Division maintains over 50 parks, over 1,000 acres with a variety of recreation amenities, including tot-lots, lighted sports fields, picnic areas, and community centers.  Additionally, the Parks and Planning Division, through the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency (COSCA), maintains approximately 15,000 acres of open space and a 140-mile multi-use trail system including a disabled accessible trail segment on Oak Creek Canyon.

CRPD releases its Recreation Program Guide four times a year (Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall) and has hundreds if not thousands of activities for adults, seniors, kids and teens.

Visit the CRPD website at www.crpd.org or call 805.495.6471 for more information or to access community class schedules, park listings, facilities, sports and other information about local Conejo Valley events and activities. 

Conejo Recreation and Park District is located at 403 W. Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks. 

Lake Shrine Meditation Gardens in Pacific Palisades

The Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine was dedicated by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1950. This is a 10 acre spiritual sanctuary located at 17190 Sunset Boulevard in Pacific Palisades, about 25 miles from the Conejo Valley.

The beautiful site hosts a natural spring-fed lake along with gardens, swans, ducks, koi and trees and flowers from around the world.

The grounds include a Court of Religions honoring the five principal religions of the world, the Mahatma Gandhi World Peace Memorial where a portion of Gandhi's ashes is enshrined, a museum with exhibits on Paramahansa Yogananda's work, and a gift shop with arts and crafts from India.

The temple itself is on a hilltop overlooking the lake. A beautiful and peaceful place indeed.

The Gardens and Lake are open Tuesday - Saturday: 9:00 am to 4:30 pm and Sunday: 12:00 noon to 4:30 pm (closed on Monday)

The Visitors' Center is open Tuesday - Saturday: 9:00 am to 4:30 pm and Sunday: 12:00 noon to 4:30 pm

Learn more at www.lakeshrine.org.

The Painted Cabernet in Oxnard

The Painted Cabernet at The Collection at RiverPark in Oxnard offers guests an opportunity to show off their artistic side under the watchful eyes of a trained instructor, while having a glass of wine in the process, offering an upscale urban studio, in a friendly, hip and creative environment for an evening on the town, a bachelorette party, a bit of “me” time or an out-of-the-ordinary date night.

The classes are a stress-free group setting where an artist instructor will guide you step-by-step replicating the featured painting, while giving you the time to sip a little wine, visit with your neighbor, listen to some great music and have a fun night out. Guests will be sure to go home with a painting that is uniquely their own.

Painted Cabernet also is available for private events, perfect for bridal showers, birthday parties, baby showers, corporate events, church groups and more.

An online calendar is up at paintedcabernet.com and reservations can be made by calling 805-963-9979.

Ventura County Trails Website

For maps, descriptions, photos, videos and news about local Ventura County trails, check out www.VenturaCountyTrails.org.

If you are looking for extremely detailed information, like trailhead locations, trail distances, ascents and descents, this is the site for you.  A great resource for local hikers, bikers and runners.

FOR DETAILS ON LOCAL HIKES HERE ON CONEJO VALLEY GUIDE, CLICK HERE

Herzog Wine Cellars in Oxnard

Herzog Wine Cellars is located at 3201 Camino Del Sol, Oxnard. The 77,000 square foot winery, designed with Herzog Special Reserve wines and small-lot winemaking in mind, combines state-of-the-art winemaking technology with a hands-on approach to artisanal winemaking.

Also at the winery is Tierra Sur Restaurant, serving modern and inspired "New American" cuisine for both lunch and dinner.

Herzog's wine tasting room offers selected offerings of red, white and rose varietal wines. They have two different wine tasting options each day. There is a tasting fee but it is waived with any purchase from the Tasting Room. Adjacent to the tasting bar is a unique collection of gift items not usually found in winery shops or anywhere else, stocked with a wide variety of stylish servingware, decorative accents and glassware.

Self-guided tours of the winery are available anytime Herzog is open. The Tasting Room is open Sunday through Thursday from 10:30am to 9pm and Friday 10:30am to 4pm.

For more information, visit www.herzogwinecellars.com or call 805.983.1560.

Huge wine tasting bar at Herzog Wine Cellars

Malibu Wines Tasting Room

Malibu Wines Tasting Room is an outdoor tasting room open to guests ages 21 and older, 7 days a week from 11am-6pm. Malibu Wines has live music year round on Saturday and Sunday from 1-3 (weather permitting) and in the summer through September, also has Thursday movie showings and live music from 7-9 on Fridays and Saturdays through October. There is never an entrance fee, but there is a one bottle minimum purchase per group of 4 (most bottles range from $20-$35). Guests are welcome to bring their own food and non-alcoholic beverages. Reservations are not necessary unless you have a group of 10 or more.

Malibu Wines is located at 31740 Mulholland Drive in Malibu. Visit www.malibuwines.com or call 818.865.0605 to learn more.

BeadTime Beading Shop in Camarillo

BeadTime is located in the Mission Oaks Business Park at 5217 Verdugo Way, Suite F, Camarillo, offering a full line of quality stones, pearls, glass, seed beeds, sterling silver, classes and more for the serious beader. Visit www.beadtime.com or call 805.482.5256 for more information.

City of Agoura Hills Community Programs and Activities

The City of Agoura Hills Community Services Department includes both parks maintenance and recreational classes and events. Toddlers to teens, adults and seniors all enjoy high quality recreation activities.  There are hundreds of programs, classes and events available in the quarterly catalog at ci.agoura-hills.ca.us. For more info call 818.597.7361.

Stiix Billiards in Ventura

Stiix Billiards at 2520 E. Main St in Ventura is a family billiards center open 7 days a week, with over a dozen billiards table, weekly leagues/tournaments, several dozen types of beer, music, TV, music, food and more. Visit www.stiixbilliards.com or call 805.641.2020.

Farmers' Market in Thousand Oaks

The Thousand Oaks Farmers’ Market is located at The Oaks Shopping Center located on the east end parking lot at the corner of Thousand Oaks Boulevard and Wilbur Road. Operating hours are 1:30 pm to 6:30 pm. on THURSDAYS.

This long-running farmers' market is a great place to buy fruits, vegetables, plants, eggs, nuts, honey and flowers from local farmers, as well as delicacies such as fresh tamales, baked goods and other goodies from local vendors.

Visit the VCCFM website at www.vccfarmersmarkets.com for details.

FOR MORE INFO ABOUT VENTURA COUNTY FARMERS' MARKETS, CLICK HERE

+EV Games in Camarillo

Located at 300 N. Lantana Street (cross street Daily) in Camarillo, +EV Games is a Magic the Gathering and other Trading Card Games Tournament Center. With space for over 60 people +EV Games has one of the best places in the state to play Magic, your favorite board game or other TCG.

More information at www.plusevgames.com or call 805.389.7428.