Monarch butterflies at the Pismo State Beach Monarch Grove 🦋

Rocko brought Joy to meet the monarch butterflies at the Pismo State Beach Monarch Grove in October.

The butterflies were showing up early and in big numbers! He wanted Joy to see them before a big storm came in. We were worried they would be blown away. 

Last year, there were less than 200 total butterflies here. This year there are already more than 14,000! More should be coming in! We will keep visiting all winter to check in on them.

While exploring the grove, Rocko found a monarch fallen in the pathway. It was cold and missing part of its wing. Rocko named it Snookers and we carefully moved it off of the path into the protected area.

We spent some time trying to record a cluster bursting. This is when they get warm enough to all start flying at the same time. It looks like a bunch of dried leaves suddenly turning bright orange and fluttering everywhere! No luck getting that on video; we still got to see it with our eyes! 

After three hours exploring the grove and checking in on Snookers until he flew away, we headed home.

Lovely wings were purchased from Etsy.

 Are you looking for adventures nearby? Check out this list!