This is such a unique WHS, and my visit was all that I had hoped for. I stayed overnight in the nearest city, Zitacuaro. From there it’s an easy drive up into the mountains where the butterflies stay for the winter. The landscape around here is very un-Mexican, more Alpine or Nepalese. I had witnessed that already the day before when driving from Morelia to Zitacuaro via mountain road #15.

There are varying reports about what is the best time to see the butterflies. Considering which month, February is supposedly the best with January and early March as alternatives. The little creatures stay “in bed” (huddled together hanging from a tree branch) when it’s too cold. They will fly out for the day when they feel the sun glowing on their wings, so a sunny day is better than a clouded one. Finally, the parks are the busiest on the weekends when Mexican daytrippers are visiting. My visit as described below was on Friday, January 17, and I arrived at the butterfly viewing point at about 10.45 a.m.

I choose El Rosario for my visit, as it’s the most accessible park. Entrance to the park is now 50 pesos (about 3 EUR), for which you also get a (compulsory?) guide assigned to you. I was the third visitor of the day. We walked up the mountain slowly, stopping now and then to look for birds (many hummingbirds here) or catch our breath. It’s a steep climb on a well-cared-for forest path. At the top there is a pretty meadow, parts of the shrubs here were still frozen. You’re really at an altitude here, over 3,000 meters. The guide told me that there had been about 10cm of snow here in early January, it was very beautiful to see the orange butterflies against the white background.

A little further into the forest I first noticed the butterflies hanging from the trees. Really a “Wow!”-moment. It looks just like the trees have lots of rotten leaves on them. But they are sleeping butterflies. When they sleep they have their wings together and you see the white/grey side of the wings. When the sun is out and they flutter about, you see them in full glory orange as that’s the colour on the other side of the wings.

The butterflies stay in a relatively small area, though they apparently cover 1,500 trees. You can watch them from behind a rope. The viewing point actually has come upward over the years, as the butterflies are now staying at a higher altitude than before. They may look close in the pictures, but there’s a distance of some 20 or 30 meters between you and them. Some of the butterflies however are loners and don’t want to huddle with the crowd: you’ll find them anywhere on the path or on a branch beside you. There are also lots of dead ones.

We stayed for about 45 minutes, hoping that the sun would break through and the butterflies would depart en masse. Unfortunately, it didn’t, but at every shade of sun I saw the “early birds” start fluttering about from tree to tree. The sheer numbers and the magic involved in how they find their way here each year keeps you thinking though.