After departing at 7:30 AM from Morelia, enjoy the scenic drive to find a landscape with volcanic mountains and valleys. Later on, the drive goes higher and higher to find the fir trees where the Monarchs winter over 3000 metres above sea level.

Found in 1976, thanks to research by Canadian scientist Fred Urquhart, the winter refuge of the monarch butterfly in central Mexico is a real wonder of nature. Declared a UNESCO-protected natural site in 2008, this is the large green area where butterflies that leave Canada & the United States mountain areas in the fall come & hide in the woods of “El Rosario” sanctuary (Michoacan, Mexico), to hibernate from late November to February.
When they reach sexual maturity in March, they reproduce, creating a new generation of butterflies that continues the millennial migration to North America as spring begins.
Well preserved to the present day by WWF & Monarch Watch among other NGOs, the winter homes are now recovering from a seriously reduced number of butterflies from years ago.
Don’t rely on other travellers’ stories about the monarchs; come and witness this wonder of nature for yourself in the magical monarch woods of central Mexico.