See monarch butterflies in all their glory on this California road trip

BySarah Kuta

Published December 22, 2023

Vibrant orange and black wings fill the skies above coastal California each winter as thousands of western monarchs take flight. But these iconic butterflies are disappearing. A new trail brings attention to their decline and invites travelers to help protect them. 

The Western Monarch Trail is a 465-mile, road trip-friendly conservation initiative that links over a dozen stops along the butterflies’ annual migration route. Here’s what to know about western monarchs—and where to see them.

Helping the butterflies

Western monarchs—a subpopulation that lives west of the Rocky Mountains—are in trouble. Although numbers fluctuate yearly, the population has declined by an estimated 90 percent since the 1990s. Scientists don’t know why the population is shrinking. But they suspect some combination of increased pesticide use, habitat loss, and human-caused climate change are to blame.

During the winter of 2020, western monarch numbers plunged to a staggering low, when fewer than 2,000 butterflies overwintered in California, compared to hundreds of thousands or low millions in previous years. “It was incredibly unnerving,” says Kristin Howland, executive director of the Central Coast State Parks Association, one of the organizations behind the new trail. “It was like, ‘OK, something has to be done, but what is it?’”

In 2021, several conservation groups and government agencies came together to help the species. Using the Whale Trail, which aims to help southern resident orcas rebound in the Pacific Northwest, as a model, organizers created educational panels in English and Spanish explaining the monarchs’ annual migration and their plight. The signs also outline ways travelers can help the butterflies recover, such as by supporting pesticide-free farms and planting native nectar gardens. 

(Whale watching is booming. Here’s how to do it responsibly.)

Why Western monarchs flock to the California coast

Today, the trail includes 14 sites along the California coast between Big Sur and Port Hueneme. 

Many stops on the trail, including Pismo State Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove and Andrew Molera State Park, are overwintering sites where western monarchs hunker down from October to February. During those months, travelers can see thousands of butterflies fluttering in eucalyptus and Monterey cypress groves in areas with mild temperatures, dappled sunlight, high humidity, and little to no wind. “They’re like Goldilocks,” says Danielle Bronson, who manages educational programs at Pismo State Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove. “They can’t have it too hot, they can’t have it too cold—they need it just right.”

Other sites, like the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden and Avila Valley Barn, grow flowers that provide sugary, calorie-dense food for the butterflies to eat. Though the monarchs tend to be less numerous at these sites, they demonstrate how vital nectaring plants are to the butterflies’ survival—and how beautiful and resilient native gardens can be. “Anything we can do to make people more aware of the natural environment is bound to help,” says Cindy Jelinek, cofounder of the 12-acre Nipomo Native Garden, one of the stops along the trail.

How to explore the Western Monarch Trail

The best way to see the winged insects? Plan a road trip on Highway 1, which connects multiple sites along the trail, or pick just one or two stops to explore while visiting coastal towns such as Avila Beach, Baywood-Los Osos, and Cambria. 

Travelers can see western monarchs all winter, but the butterflies’ behavior varies at different times of day and depending on the weather. In the mornings, while temperatures are still cool, they roost together on the branches and trunks of trees at the overwintering sites. (A pair of binoculars can be handy for spotting them.) As the day starts to heat up—typically by late morning or early afternoon—the butterflies begin to leave their clusters and start flying around in search of nearby nectar. Bronson calls this phenomenon a “sunburst” and recommends keeping your eyes skyward. “Don’t grab your camera, just be in the moment,” she says.

(Follow the monarch on its dangerous 3,000-mile journey across the continent.)

Travelers who visit toward the end of winter, typically in February, may even catch a glimpse of the monarch mating dance, when a male and a female tussle together in the air. Periodically, the entangled lovers fall to the ground and become temporarily stunned, so it’s important for human visitors to watch their step, says Howland. “If the female accepts the male’s proposal, the male will pick up the female and fly her up to the tree tops and that’s where they mate,” she adds. “We call it the honeymoon suite.”

The trail’s organizers hope visitors will embrace the awe and wonder they feel while observing the colorful butterflies. Ideally, those emotions will inspire them to take action once they return home. “There’s an opportunity here to turn the story around—the western monarchs are still savable,” says Emme Pelton, a senior conservation biologist with the nonprofit Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, which is a collaborator on the trail. “This is a conservation challenge that I hope we can tackle. We have the tools, it’s just about the will and doing it.”

Sarah Kuta is a writer and editor based in Longmont, Colorado. Follow her on Instagram and X.

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