Monarch Butterfly Migration

Home » Monarch Butterfly Migration

Every year millions of monarch butterflies migrate from Canada and the U.S. to the Oyamel forests near Angangeo, in the Northern part of the state of Michoacan, Mexico. Their arrival is in mid-November and their first months are spent mostly hibernating in the enormous fir trees until February when their mating season begins. They begin their incredible return trip North in the month of March. The butterflies form colonies in the mountains that range considerably in size – from a half dozen trees covered in monarchs to hundreds of square meters of forest with literally millions of butterflies everywhere.

A single generation of butterflies make the trip from as far away as Canada down to the forests of Michoacan.  On the return trip it can take as many four generations of butterflies to reach their northernmost points.

See Journey North’s Monarch Butterfly Migration Map for the latest monarch butterfly tracking across Mexico, the United States and Canada.

Rocamar Tours offers several eco adventure and cultural trips including the monarch sanctuaries. From a quick three-day trip to the state to a full week of touring, we have several options for seeing the monarch sanctuaries. We are currently offering trips to four monarch butterfly sanctuaries. Sanctuaries vary according to group, date and tour option.

There will be limited space for the 2011 monarch butterfly season as groups are filling up quickly, contact us to book your trip now!

Please see our Monarch Butterfly Cultural Tour for all the details on how you can experience this truly amazing phenomenon.