Mariposa Monarca

We visit this Monarca in January and didn’t see any butterflies flying. They were all cocooned together on the trees. However we returned on Friday, 28th of February. When arriving they assigned us a guide. We first weren’t to happy about it. We took the horse for 170 pesos per person to go up. When arriving upstairs our guide was already there waiting for us. He truly was amazing and told us many things about the butterflies. We also had many questions and he answered everything with so much interesting information. Also he made our tour very pleasant. Gave us space when and was always ready to tell us more about the Monarca and the wildlife there. We went up by horse around 1:30 pm. It takes around 20 min to get to the final stop where you have to wake through the wood by feet. The walk is easy and on the way we already saw many butterflies. In general we enjoyed ourselves so much. The best time to go is when it’s hot and as less as possible clouds. Because the butterflies like to be in the sun. We’re planning to go back next year too. We will definitely contact our guide to give us an other tour! At the entrance/ exit we had mango and mais at number 31. It’s just on the left size the moment you exit. We had quesadillas and tacos at number 19-21. We loved it all. Don’t give money to the children, they’re like piranhas that never have enough 😂. Better get the food/candy.

We had such a wonderful visit! The millions of butterflies!! I didn't realize how many stairs there were to get up to the top. I should've gone by horse but my daughter didn't want too. We had a great visit and memories for a lifetime.

A magical place, we were fortunate to have beautiful weather which makes a big difference in your experience.

This is a truly magical and sacred space. We had an amazing experience, the butterflies were everywhere even before we got to the reserve. We arrived around 11am, had a quick bite before going inside. The quesadilla was delicious with a homemade blue corn tortilla. The paring attendant kept an eye on our dog inside the car. Once inside we opted to use a local guide and hike up. The hike was more of a walk, but be aware you’ll be going over 10,000 feet. The air is much thinner than sea level. Our guide did a great job explaining the whole lifestyle of the monarch and did it in basic Spanish so we could understand. We were there yesterday (2 March) and the butterflies were swarming and even mating. I’d definitely recommend this place to visit. It only took us about an hour total to hike up, see the butterflies at the top and hike down.

It was more a hike than the Monarch butterflies for me.

It's a hard hike so bring trekking boots and poles. Don't forget water and day snacks. It will take you around 3 to 4 hours to make it to the butterflies. I highly recommend renting a horse, but keep in mind that is a hard ride up and even harder to go down. You have to leave the horse and do a 30 minute hike up to the butterflies. Once you are there you must be quiet and sit down. It’s a magical experience. I absolutely recommend it.

The most magical experience in the world. The walk is a bit long but quite bearable and definitely worth it. The forest is amazing and the views are breathtaking. But absolutely no words can describe the beauty of the sanctuary and the greatness of the place

Nice place to visit, and of course you need to visit during the winter. The temperatures in December are about 30°F at night and 55°F during the day. The best time of the day to visit the sanctuary is 12:00 noon, we went to "Sierra Chincua" near Angangeo. The entrance fee is cheap, $30 pesos per person if I remember. As you enter you are assigned a guide, a little boy or girl, at the end you give them a tip. They suggest you to rent a horse to go to the sanctuary, they charge you $100 pesos per person each way. The way up is doable taking a few breaks, the way back is really easy. If you don't have good condition you can rent a horse on your way up, but for sure you don't need it in your way back. There are like 12 small restaurants in the area, all are the same, they are local and they prepare local food, cheap and delicious, you need to try it. Hope you enjoy your visit.