Look up. In the air around Santa Cruz, California’s Natural Bridges State Beach, you can see a flurry of magnificent monarch butterflies sailing through the sky. Just outside the Visitor Center, Monarch Butterfly Natural Preserve gives these critters space to create a “city in the trees.” In late fall and winter, eucalyptus trees and mild temperatures keep the butterflies safe and happy until spring.
You can witness the magic and learn about monarch butterfly migration on a visit to Natural Bridges. Find your way to the best views with this helpful photo guide. Here’s everything you want to know, from how to navigate Natural Bridges to accessibility details and more.
Traveling with bug-crazy kids this summer? Ohio’s new Hocking Hills Butterfly Trail offers a family-friendly outdoors experience that’s educational and fun. Just download your printable map, passport, and butterfly coloring book before your trip. Then you can follow the map to the 14 butterfly stations and mark them off on your passport.
The trail includes 14 locations where visitors can stop and look for butterflies. To make this more appealing to screen generations, each place has a selfie station where you can pose in front of massive wings accurately depicting the featured butterfly species. Wing stations are open from sunrise to sunset (after that, you’ll turn into a moth.) Visitors will also learn about butterfly habitats, lifecycle, and food sources.
Photo courtesy of Explore Hocking Hills
“Hocking Hills Butterfly Trail encourages stewardship of our natural areas by demonstrating how important pollinators are to the wellbeing of the very thing visitors come to here to experience: nature and wildlife,” Explore Hocking Hills Executive Director Karen Raymore said in a statement. “A diverse group of partners came together to implement the trail, creating outstanding visitor experiences that educate while making each stop fun and interactive.”
At the Hocking Hills Regional Welcome Center, visitors can witness the whole monarch butterfly lifecycle. From May to August, the young caterpillars feed and prepare for some chrysalis time. They emerge as monarchs between late August and October. Guests can participate in monarch migration research by tagging the butterflies and bidding them adios as they begin migrating to Mexico.
Releasing monarchs. / Photo courtesy of Explore Hocking Hills
The Butterfly Ridge Conservation Center is another special stop along the trail. There, you can take guided hikes across the pollinator-friendly prairie, forest, and gardens. Check the schedule for special workshops, and pick up seeds to plant a butterfly habitat once you go home. Some summer Saturday nights also feature moth safaris.
Photo courtesy of Explore Hocking Hills
The 14 featured butterflies are the monarch, great-spangled fritillary, orange sulfur, silver-spotted skipper, clouded sulfur, red admiral, pipevine swallowtail, viceroy, red-spotted purple, pearl crescent, hackberry emperor, eastern tiger swallowtail, spicebush swallowtail, and eastern comma.
Photo courtesy of Explore Hocking Hills
The Hocking Hills are located about 50 miles southeast of Columbus and are known for various outdoor activities. You can camp, glamp, kayak, canoe, ride horses, stargaze, rock climb, rappel, and do lots of other fun things — all while keeping an eye out for butterflies.
Butterflies make any day feel brighter. Even people who hate insects can see the beauty in these unique, fluttery creatures. Intricate patterns and eye-catching colors make these dainty insects a sight to behold. Rare butterflies have a special allure due to their scarcity. Unfortunately, in the animal kingdom, scarcity can be dangerous. Species with dwindling numbers may even face extinction.
Extinction risk level determines if a species is considered critically endangered, endangered, or vulnerable. For butterflies and many other animals, habitat loss and destruction significantly impacts their extinction risk level. Conservation efforts help combat these losses. You can support endangered butterflies in many ways. Try supporting habitat protection efforts in your area, starting a butterfly garden, and learning more from groups like The Conservation Foundation and The Xerces Society. Your hard work will directly contribute to saving beautiful butterflies like the ones featured below.
