Last Updated: March 5, 2024
Seeing the incredible Monarch Butterflies in Mexico is probably as close to real magic as you can actually get.
With the millions of butterflies floating and dancing all around you, in what is an already beautiful forest, it just takes your breath away.
It’s often a lot of people dream to see this phenomenon. But it’s surprisingly straight forward and affordable to witness the magic first hand.
So if you’re after some advice on how to see the majestic creatures in all their glory, read on…
Jump To...
What are Monarch Butterflies?
Monarch Butterflies are instantly recognisable in the world due to there big orange wings, black veins and white dots.
The bright orange colour is a warning to predators of their toxic make-up. They get this from their diet when they are growing as a caterpillar.
The female butterflies lay eggs on milkweed plants, which is then the caterpillars only source of food.
To most animals milkweed itself is poisonous, but the Monarchs have evolved to not only tolerate this plant, but also use it, by storing the toxins in their body.
Then, when eaten by a predator, it makes them sick enough to know not to go near one of these butterflies again. Thus helping keep the Monarch Butterfly population as a whole pretty safe from predators.
The Monarch Butterflies are mainly found in the Americas and some parts of Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia. But they have also been recorded in may other parts of the world.
This is because they can travel great distances, as we’re about to learn…
What is the Monarch Butterfly Migration?
Every year the epic Monarch Butterfly Migration takes place.
Whereby millions of these wonderful creatures travel a staggering distance of close to 3,000 miles! From Canada and the North of the USA to southern California and southern-central Mexico, and then back again.
What makes this even more astonishing (as if anything was needed) is that this migration takes place over multiple generations, yet the butterflies still return to the same forest and sometimes even the same tree each year!
As monarch butterflies usually only live for 2-8 weeks the journey north goes over 3-4 generations. But then, once autumn kicks in and the butterflies know that winter is coming, they realise it’s time to make their ‘super generation’.
This ‘super generation’ will live for up to 8 months! And do the whole journey back to their original hibernating grounds. Before the whole cycle begins again.
This means it could be the great-great-great granddaughter/son that makes the journey back to the forest that has never been there before!
And this incredible navigation system comes down to their genes and an inbuilt compass system, which really is quite amazing.
We could write a whole article on these butterflies and the migration pattern, but we need to move onto the actual seeing of them.
But do some more research into the migration to get some further info before you head to see them. As it really is amazing and makes the visiting of them even more rewarding when you understand just what they have been through to get there.
It’s also a great way to get science lesson in if you’re travelling with kids, so don’t miss this opportunity if you are!
What is the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Mexico?
The Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, officially named Reserva de la Biósfera Santuario Mariposa Monarca, is one of the few places where the Monarchs finish their migration pattern and set up for the winter.
The whole reserve area is pretty big and straddles two states in Mexico.
It lies on the east border of state of Michoacán, spilling into The State Of Mexico (yes there’s a sate named Mexico inside the country of Mexico just to confuse you!). It’s about 2-3 hours west from Mexico City by road.
And this is where people can come to bare witness to the amazing site of millions of these butterflies and to be in the presence of the end of quite an extraordinary journey.
The main areas open to the public are Sierra Chincua, El Rosario, La Mesa, Piedra Herrada and El Capulin.
Each area has it’s own pros and cons and it’s up to you which you choose for your visit.
But generally speaking, Sierra Chincua and El Rosario are the easiest to visit and where most of the tours head.
El Rosario is a particularly appealing one, but it is also considered the most ‘touristy’.
But that should be taken lightly. It’s not overran with commercial entities just yet. But does have a couple of tiendos and cafes knocking around and a car park etc. but it’s far from overdeveloped (at the moment).
And it is popular for good reason.
It’s easy to get to. The forest is beautiful. The hike, whilst steep, is very enjoyable. And there is a significant amount of butterflies in this area.
For these reasons, Rosario is where we would recommend for your visit and so will be the focus of the rest of this post.
When to visit the Monarch Butterfly Reserve
The Monarch Butterflies descend on the reserve around December, then begin to depart again around March, so it’s between these months that the forest starts to fill an then empty again of the Monarchs.
Obviously the peak is somewhere in the middle of this around January/February, when almost all the butterflies that are going to make it have done so.
But don’t let that put you off going in December or March, there will still be plenty of Butterflies around.
Weather is an important factor for the Butterflies.
They are very sensitive to the air temperature and only start to fly around in the warm sunshine. An overcast today can mean they won’t come off their trees.
And, although it’s still amazing to see the clusters of butterflies hanging from the various trees, it’s obviously the fluttering of these creatures most people come for.
So try to have a look at the weather and aim for sunny days. We know this can be a bit of pot luck, as the weather can throw curve balls when you least expect it, but just do your best.
In terms of time of day, most of the reserve areas are open from early morning to early evening.
Earlier in the morning is more likely to be cooler with the sun still coming up.
Midday to early afternoon will be when the sun is at it’s highest and so when the sun will hit the butterflies and get them moving! So try to be in the reserve for around that time.
The reserves can get busy, so try to avoid weekends and holidays if possible.
Best Base for Visiting the Monarch Butterfly Reserve
You can visit the Monarch Butterfly Reserve directly from Mexico City in a day. And some tour operators do offer this. And you could also do it in a day if you are driving. So Mexico City can be a reasonable base.
Doing a day trip from CDMX by public transport would be very tricky though, due to the bus timetable.
But even with a tour or car, we’d still advise staying a night or two in the local area so you don’t rush the visit as it could become a very long day with all the travelling, hiking etc.
Staying overnight also means you can explore the local area as well, which is beautiful in it’s own right!
The nearest large town to the reserve is Zitácuaro. This is a good area to head if you want plenty of accommodation and transport options.
There are some smaller towns dotted about as well such as Ocampo and Angangueo.
Angangueo is a very popular place to stay and is gorgeous. It’s the area we would recommend for basing yourself to see the butterflies in El Rosario or Sierra Chincua.
An old mining town and given Pueblo Magico (magic town) status by Mexico. Which is only given to certain towns of outstanding beauty (you can take a look at one of our other favourite magic towns Izamal if you’re interested in them).
It’s in very close proximity to the El Rosario entrance (about 30 minutes by car). And has limited, but certainly enough, accommodation types to choose from. With some hotels and lots of Airbnb’s to go for.
We managed to get an absolutely gorgeous house at the back of the town with a stunning woodland backing onto our yard.
How to Get to the Monarch Butterfly Reserve
Let’s start by getting to Mexico City.
As Mexico City is the Capital of Mexico it has an abundance of transport options in and out.
With an airport pretty much in the city, plus two others an hour or two away it’s an easy place to fly into domestically or internationally.
Also coaches are plentiful for arriving into CDMX, with the tourist friendly ADO coach company a popular and reasonable choice for any travel budget.
Once in Mexico City then there’s a few ways to get to the biosphere area.
If you’re going by tour then your transport will likely be taken care of.
If driving then it’s a case of plugging in the location on your sat-nav and away you go.
For public transport then there are a few options, depending on exactly where you’re heading.
You can take the coach from Terminal Poniente, one of the main coach stations in Mexico City.
There is a metro station that services the coach station names ‘Observatorio’. However this is currently under construction at time of writing, so you may need to take a bus, taxi or walk depending on where you are coming from to get to the station until the metro construction is complete.
You can read some insights into getting around Mexico City on our other post.
Once at the coach station you have a few choices of getting to the region for the biosphere.
If you are heading to Zitácuaro then there is a bus every hour or so via multiple companies such as Zina-Bus or Autovias.
If Zitácuaro is not your final destination, you can then get to the other towns dotted about via the minibuses. Just ask around and you should be able to find the one you need. Or alternatively take a taxi if it’s easier.
There is also a direct coach to Angangueo from Poniente ran by Zina-Bus. They leave a little less frequently and take a little longer. But if Angangueo is your final stop then it might be easier to just take this to save the changes and extra time by first going to Zitácuaro etc.
You can find some information online regarding the coach timetable. But to be double sure we would suggest going into the coach station a day or two before to check times etc. Or just head there early on the day, if you don’t mind waiting around due to the infrequency of the coaches.
It’s wise to take a translator app with you if you don’t speak Spanish, you might get an English speaker to help you, but there is no guarantee.
Once you are in your town of choice, your next task is to get to the actual reserve.
There are some local buses that can get you there or you can take a taxi.
There’s no Uber here, so it’s a good idea to arrange a taxi with a local driver when you arrive.
We simply wondered around the Angangueo centre until we found a taxi driver. We first negotiated a price to our Airbnb (as it was on the outskirts of town) then on the way we arranged a pick-up in the morning and a price for a return to the reserve.
There is usually phone service at the reserve entrances, so you can usually get your driver number and call them when you’re ready for your return.
Or alternatively arrange a time for them to collect you, but leave plenty of time, trust us when we say you will never want to leave the reserve once the butterflies appear!
Seeing the Monarch Butterflies in El Rosario
Now comes the magic!
The entrance fee varies from each reserve area, but is usually somewhere between 50 and 100 MXD per person, with some discounts for children.
You may be encouraged to get a guide, or even told it is essential. We didn’t particularly want one, but were kind of made to in the end.
The guide seems to come with the entrance fee, but will expect a tip a the end. We had a lovely sweet old lady, didn’t speak a word of English, but with our broken Spanish and translator app we managed to have some reasonable conversations!
You don’t really need a guide in El Rosario, the trail is very obvious so you cant get lost. But you can get a guide if you want.
Don’t let them be too pushy about moving you on though. They will want to get back down to get another group, so it’s in their interest to move fast, but you will want to saver every moment.
We politely declined to head down when our guide wanted to as we wanted to stay longer, so she basically said her goodbyes and left us whilst we stayed, so no drama if you want to do this.
The hike is a steep one in El Rosario, but most adults and children will manage it without too much problem and you will want to stop a lot to see things anyway so will get some respite as you ascend.
Sierra Chincua is considered a less demanding hike though if you prefer to go for that.
There options for horse trekking at some of the reserves. But we would recommend walking. You will want to stop, look and listen regularly, but your horse might not want to! So if you go it with your own legs you have control. Just take your time and you’ll be grand!
We went early morning but then stayed for a number of hours. This is a great way to do it as you can hike the trail in the cool air and gaze in wonder at the clusters on the trees in anticipation of what’s to come.
Then, sit and wait and watch as the sun comes out.
As it moves across the sky and the beams of light start to filter into the forest, it almost appears as if the sun’s rays are popping the clusters, which then break away into hundreds of fluttering butterflies, one by one, until the forest is covered with thousands of flapping wings all around you.
It’s an incredible sight to behold and something we will never forget.