Here’s how to see them.Travelers can help protect these delicate insects at the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve recognized on UNESCO’s World Heritage list In one of the planet’s most extraordinary natural spectacles, millions of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) gather every winter amid the fir forests of Central Mexico They carpet the trees and paint the sky black and orange they personify the souls of departed loved ones It’s an eight-month migration traversing the continent and back during which five consecutive generations are born and die The 138,000-acre monarch reserve spans Michoacán and the State of Mexico and is a World Heritage site one of the country’s four natural assets inscribed on the list only three sanctuaries in Michoacán and three in the State of Mexico open to visitors to immerse themselves in the world of monarchs learn about the delicate creatures’ mass migration Monarch butterfly sanctuaries in Mexico provide vital refuge and shelter for these insects Responsible tourism practices are crucial to minimize the impact of visitors to them and the reserve and maintain silence to avoid disturbing the butterflies’ hibernation Migrating monarchs gather in El Rosario, the biggest and most popular butterfly sanctuary in the state of Michoacán in southwestern Mexico. (Follow the monarch on its dangerous 3,000-mile journey across the continent.) Registration and tours with local guides are mandatory and included with the entry fee which is about $5 dollars for adults and $3 for kids in every sanctuary Time spent inside the sanctuary is limited to 18 minutes to prevent overcrowding It is strictly prohibited to take dead butterflies; this ensures they continue to fulfill their role in the food chain as the chemicals released after their decomposition contribute to the ecosystem and even help monarchs locate their hibernation sites in future seasons With nearly 70 percent of the reserve’s territory Michoacán has emerged as the most prominent destination in Mexico to witness the migration of the monarchs The state offers three sanctuaries open to the public: El Rosario known for its facilities such as the artisan corridor; Sierra Chincua with its lush forest and shorter trails for families; and Senguio with its lesser known and unspoiled landscapes for solo travelers (Whales and butterflies are the real celebrities in Santa Barbara.) The gateway to the state’s butterfly sanctuaries is Zitácuaro, a town set amid the stunning landscapes of southeastern Michoacán. Rancho San Cayetano is a convenient jumping off point for sanctuary visits The region also has waterfalls, a forest for hiking and bird watching, and Nemi Natura Ranch. It’s a good stop for farm-fresh produce before you get to the largest butterfly sanctuary in Michoacán: El Rosario and offers a visitor center with photo exhibits and documentaries explaining the monarchs’ migration (Welcome to the Jungle: Exploring Mexico’s Lacandón) The moutaintop butterfly colonies are an hour’s walk or a short horseback ride ($8) from El Rosario’s entrance the guide will lead you to designated viewpoints where the landscape reveals a sea of orange and black wings fluttering in the breeze Food stalls at El Rosario sanctuary cater to visitors who fuel up before or after their hike or horseback ride to the butterfly colonies.An hour’s drive up the mountain from El Rosario will take you to Sierra Chincua sanctuary where the clusters of butterflies are sometimes heavy enough to break tree branches From the visitor center to its butterfly colonies visitors can also enjoy activities such as ziplining Senguio is about an hour and a half by car from Sierra Chincua This small town is home to the newest sanctuary in Michoacán visitors must walk three hours on a rugged trail (See monarch butterflies in all their glory on this California road trip.) From Senguio, it’s about a 3.5-hour drive back to Mexico City (or 1.5 back to Zitácuaro) These three sanctuaries can be explored in a well-planned weekend itinerary allowing visitors to admire this breathtaking phenomenon while experiencing the natural and cultural wonders of Michoacán the State of Mexico’s border with Michoacán houses 54,300 acres of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve The state’s sanctuaries include El Capulín which in total welcome up to 200,000 human visitors each year Piedra Herrada is one of the three official monarch sanctuaries in the state where community members work as tourist guides or rent horses as it takes over two hours to walk to the core zone where the butterflies sleep Half an hour’s drive from this sanctuary lies Valle de Bravo, known for its spectacular lake, with sailing, water-skiing, and sport fishing. Here, Hotel Rodavento offers a unique hospitality experience with rooms suspended over the forest—an ideal place to stay before exploring other sanctuaries in the state. It takes a little over an hour from popular Valle de Bravo to reach El Capulín, with 2.5 miles of trails through coniferous forests teeming with butterflies. From these mountains, visitors can view the largest plain in the monarch region, known as Los Tres Gobernadores. Two hours further north, La Mesa sanctuary shelters crystalline bodies of water and historical hacienda ruins. It stood as part of the Mazahua territory, the largest ethnic group in the state. Today, it has guided tours of hibernation colonies and access to a deer breeding facility. one curiosity lingered as I waited for U.S How this weekly miracle comes out every week — and has done so since 2001 — is a tribute to the folks on this page and the many who came before them I’m glad to contribute a few tricks I’ve learned from 55 years in journalism all over the map The monarch butterfly has officially arrived in Michoacán the first colonies were spotted around noon on Nov 1 before millions of butterflies arrived in huge clouds by the afternoon Michoacán is home to the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve which spans over 562 square kilometers (also including parts of México state) and is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site the reserve welcomes around 200 million butterflies that make a journey of some 4,000 kilometers from Canada to nest in the pine and fir forests of Mexico The ejidatarios (communal landowners) of El Rosario Butterfly Sanctuary confirmed the arrival of the butterflies and are expecting the arrival of at least 250 million this year The sanctuaries are set to open to the public in the second half of November The region expects 511,000 tourists this year according to the Tourism Minister for Michoacán The season is expected to bring in 625 million pesos (US $35 million) of economic revenue for the state “They are flying in the United States and Canada but their breeding sanctuaries are concentrated in the Michoacán forests,” Monroy told newspaper El Universal Michoacán has three monarch butterfly sanctuaries open to the public: El Rosario (the largest) which are home to the butterflies from November to March each year Visitors can walk around the designated areas on foot or on horseback México state also has three butterfly sanctuaries open to the public The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) declared the migratory monarch butterfly as endangered last year the subspecies was downgraded by the organization to “vulnerable to extinction,” a lower level in the risk classification system The reason for this change is that the IUCN has found that the models that predicted the insect’s disappearance were overly cautious and the numbers are declining more slowly than previously thought ADVERTISE WITH MND COMMUNITY GUIDELINES Subscription FAQ's Privacy Policy Mexico News Daily - Property of Tavana LLC This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page.