The Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserves is one of those really unique world heritage sites. As far as I can tell there is nothing on the list that compares to it: a forest full of butterflies. Simply amazing.

With my mandatory guide, I hiked into the park. At first, there were scores of dying butterflies on the ground. Then we ran into larger clouds of butterflies swirling in the air. And eventually, we made it to the butterfly covered trees.

Unfortunately, I visited before lunch. The time wasn't perfect. The parks are in the mountains and before lunch, it's cloudy and potentially too cold for the butterflies to fly around. They even put up a sign (see picture).

Getting There

The first question for getting there is not about the location: It's about the time. The monarch butterflies migrate North during summer and are only in the area during winter, roughly November to March. I came in December/January so this was not an issue. Visiting outside butterfly season does not count in my eyes.

I went on a day trip from Mexico City by bus. There are 1-2 daily connections to Angangueo. We arrived in Angangueo around 11 a.m. From there I took a cab (negotiate rate) to take me to El Rosario and back.

I had been in Morelia before and I am pretty sure you can arrive from that direction, too. But I was short on time and little information on bus connections was available, so I skipped.

On-site you have to pay a local guide. They provide some information and make sure you don't break anything, e.g. by touching the butterflies. But the main purpose is that they can make a living and do not have to resort to illegal logging which would hurt the butterfly population. And I am fine with that, especially as the fee was reasonable.