Monarch Butterflies, Like Humans, Love Monterey County
They’re tiny, they’re beautiful, and they’re all over Monterey County. Monarch butterflies have once again returned to the region, settling in at forest groves to wait out the winter. Though the butterflies congregate in areas from Big Sur through Monterey, their best-known wintering-over spot is in Pacific Grove.
Since 1875, visitors have remarked on the congregations of Monarch butterflies that fill the skies and the trees of Pacific Grove. The annual convergence of Monarch butterflies resulted in the nickname “Butterfly Town, U.S.A.” Pacific Grove even has a Butterfly Parade and Butterfly Bazaar every year to welcome the butterflies. (In 2010, the parade will be held on Saturday, October 2. For more details, click here.)
In 1990, the town established the Monarch Grove Butterfly Sanctuary, ensuring the fluttering creatures would come back year after year. See below for details on the Sanctuary, including hours and directions.
The Incredible Lives of Monterey County’s Monarch Butterflies
These Monarch butterflies that come to Monterey County are a special generation of butterfly. While most generations of Monarchs live only four to five weeks after they reach adulthood, the generation that overwinters in Monterey County lives seven or eight months. That’s the equivalent of a human living 575 years!
Even more incredible, these butterflies have never been to Monterey County before, and they didn’t learn how to get here from their parents. The previous year’s butterflies are the great-great-great grandparents of the Monarchs that are returning this year. Scientists still aren’t sure how the butterflies know to return to the same destinations over and over again.
Monarch Butterflies and Humans Have a Lot in Common
Why do Monarch butterflies come to Monterey County? It turns out that the Monarchs like to visit this area for many of the same reasons humans do.
- Both Monarchs and human visitors will migrate from a great distance — in the case of Monarchs, as far as 3,000 miles away — to enjoy the mild climate of a Monterey County winter. Humans have the advantage here; while it takes Monarchs a month or more of daily flight to reach Monterey County, migrating humans can fly to Monterey Peninsula Airport in just a couple of hours.
- Monarchs and human visitors enjoy the mild winter temperatures – 60 degrees during the day and 43 degrees at night in the deepest winter.
- Monarchs and human visitors like the beautiful eucalyptus and Monterey pine trees — although humans are far less likely to cluster by the thousands on their branches for warmth.
- Monarchs and human visitors like the gentle breezes of the peninsulas along the coast, and use them for the same purpose: to propel flight. Humans, in this case, are at a disadvantage; the butterflies come equipped with their own gliding equipment, while humans must bring hang gliders or parasails.
- Monarchs and humans are both fans of local parks, although the Monarchs have a few very specific hangouts. Monarch butterflies prefer to spend their time at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve
, Big Sur’s Andrew Molera State Park and the Pacific Grove Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary. Binocular-sporting humans are also frequently seen in these parks during the winter months, gazing up at the clusters of Monarch butterflies.
Pacific Grove's Monarch Grove Butterfly Sanctuary
Every October, thousands of butterflies make a stop in a Pacific Grove eucalyptus grove, the preferred Monarch butterfly habitat, during their migration to warmer climates. The butterflies hang in clusters from eucalyptus branches to maintain body temperature, and the resulting effect is stunning. Visitors come from miles around to take Monarch butterfly tours throughout the sanctuary.
The City of Pacific Grove created the butterfly sanctuary to preserve both this Monarch butterfly habitat and the opportunity to view this incredible natural display. The sanctuary is free, and visitors are invited to visit, watch, admire and take Monarch butterfly photos and videos, so long as they don't touch. (As per Pacific Grove Municipal Code, Chapter 11.48, “it is declared to be unlawful for any person to molest or interfere with…the peaceful occupancy of the monarch butterflies” -- the fine is $1,000.) Monarchs stay in the Monarch butterfly grove from October until February before they continue their migration south.
Map and Directions to Monarch Grove Butterfly Sanctuary
To find the Monarch Grove Butterfly Sanctuary, take Lighthouse Avenue to Ridge Road, and find parking. The pathway to the Butterfly Sanctuary is tucked away next to the Butterfly Grove Inn's property, and has a white picket fence on one side. The sanctuary is open year 'round, but the best time to spot butterflies is from October through February. Admission is free.
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