Mountain Monarch Festival

This free event, hosted by the park and sponsored by Friends of Gorges State Park and other partners, will celebrate the monarch butterfly during its migration and bring attention to the species declining numbers. The park lies along the monarchs’ migratory route. The butterflies can be seen in early October each year flying over the park, heading south to the high-elevation fir forests in central-southern Mexico’s Volcanic Belt, where they overwinter until early spring.

Monarch butterflies have two sets of deep orange and black wings and a wingspan of three to four inches. The migratory subspecies of the monarch was recently added to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s “red list” of the most threatened species on Earth and is now listed as endangered. Those who wish to help monarchs return to healthy population levels can plant locally native milkweed and nectar flowers in their yards and support efforts to reduce pesticide use.

11:00am – The World of Monarch Butterflies

12:00p – Monarch Life-Cycle & Tagging

1:00pm – Butterfly Hike

2:00pm – Butterfly Gardening

3ː30pm – Live Butterfly Release