"El Rosario" Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary - "El Rosario" Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary

Wonderful family afternoon! We visited on a Monday in early March! No crowds at all. When we arrived at about 11-11:30am there was maybe 2-3 cars in parking lot. The horse ride up and down was perfect and enjoyed butterflies all along the way. It was very worth the extra $300 pesos per person round trip for the horses! No one spoke much english, but we had watched lots of youtube videos before hand, so we didn't really need any explanations. Now the one crazy part, was the women who cook at all the food places around the parking lot, they literally followed us around the parking lot with their menus in our face! I thought they were very rude, but I understand they were just trying to make a living. We choose a place that had a picture of whole fish on the menu, that's what my husband wanted. But we did forgot to ask about prices...none on menu! That was our fault! the bill was $700 pesos for 4 people, which is a lot for Mexico! We'd had fish at other places for 1/3 of that price! So make sure you ask about prices!!!

We went in the morning, but maby around 13:00 was better. You must be fit for the steep walk, but also the altitude can give you a problem. Be prepared, good binoculars and camera is what we needed. Eat and/or drink something at the square/plaza. It's good!

This was part of our mariposa trek last week and was an interesting addition to our overall tour. Cloudy day, so only limited activity at the top. Smooth horse ride up, although walking the steps wouldn't be too hard. Absurd time limit on top,18 min., but one often ignored when there's not a crush in the viewing area. Nice food at the stalls around the parking lot.

It's a beautiful place!, but be careful at the beginning there are a lot of stairs, you have to climb about 30 min of stairs and walk around 15 min of rooted and rocky forest path but it worth it. If you have troubles with walking you can hire a horse at the entrance ?. When you arrive to the sanctuary please be quiet (shhh). ¡Don't disturb the butterflies!, You can not touch them nor take out passed away butterflies. Please consider the peak viewing season is between mid-January and the end of March. Enjoy!

What a wonderful experience to be able to enjoy millions of butterflies. I like the way that this community is handling the tourism to prevent the destruction of this beautiful sanctuary. The only downside is the vendors are overwhelming each tourist trying to sell their stuff.

80 pesos entrance fee, 150 pesos horse ride each way. I'd suggest one way ride up and walk down as I did. Take your time at the trees with the butterflies. As the sun moves more and more butterflies start to fly around. Most are huddled together for warm and make it difficult to see them. We'll worth the trip.

This was our favorite butterfly sanctuary we visited in the region. It felt much more quiet and private. The hike was delightful and we enjoyed the horse experience as well. When the sun came and hit the butterflies it was truly a remarkable experience. I recommend going early in the morning and waiting up in the forest until it starts to sun and warm. It is worth the trek!

A wonderful experience, so many butterflies all around you. They did close off the part where there were millions of them just to observe from a far encase people crushed them. It was a bit difficult to get there by public transport but I would definitely recommend especially if you have a car.