Monarch Groves (Pacific Grove & Natural Bridges)
Monterey Bay · near Pacific Grove / Santa Cruz · Central Coast
Wildlife Watching
At a glance
- Best season
- Nov–Feb (overwintering); best on mild, sunny midday when butterflies fly
- Open year round
- No
What is here
- Wildlife
- birds
- Species
- Western monarch butterflies (overwintering clusters), songbirds
- Amenities
- Overwintering monarch clusters · Easy boardwalk groves · Docents & interpretation · Family-friendly viewing
- Best for
- Overwintering monarch butterflies
- Features
- Overwintering monarch clusters · A threatened winter spectacle · Easy coastal groves · Docent-led viewing
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Numbers vary greatly year to year · Do not disturb clustering butterflies · Cool mornings (butterflies stay still) · Stay on trails
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Wildlife Watching detail
- Viewing
- trail
- Effort
- easy
- Habitat
- coast
- Sighting
- 3
- Viewing notes
- Overwintering western monarch butterflies clustering in coastal groves — a hushed, shimmering (though now gravely diminished and imperiled) spectacle in eucalyptus and pine, on easy boardwalk trails
- Intl tip
- One of California's most magical — and now most fragile — wildlife spectacles: western monarch butterflies overwintering in mild coastal groves, Nov–Feb. Two reliable, accessible sites ring Monterey Bay — Pacific Grove's Monarch Sanctuary and Natural Bridges (Santa Cruz) — with easy boardwalks and docents. On cool mornings they hang in dense clumps; midday sun scatters them into fluttering orange. But the population has crashed more than 99% since the 1980s (from ~4.5 million to recent record lows of ~9,000–12,000 counted statewide) and is proposed for ESA listing; numbers swing sharply year to year (Pacific Grove had none in 2020). Check recent counts, visit a mild sunny midday, never disturb the clusters.
The guide
Each autumn, as much of the natural world winds down, one of California's most magical — and now most fragile — wildlife specta…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Monarch Groves (Pacific Grove & Natural Bridges) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 36.62, -121.92