Cerro Pelon Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary: A Private and Hassle-free Experience
3.8
20 Ratings
Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve

Unlike many others, we reach the sanctuary from a different route, avoiding many touristic hassles and giving the tour a more private and comfortable experience.

Duration: 12 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve - Experience Mexico’s hidden magic with an awe-inspiring natural phenomenon! Every year, during winter the Monarch Butterfly start their migration from the forest of Canada to the sanctuaries in Mexico. As it is not typical tourist fare, it is important to have a guide who knows the area well and can ensure that the entire trip will be a memorable experience.
    From México city, we’ll drive to the small and peaceful community “Matías Romero” (near Zitácuaro Michoacán). Here we’ll meet a VILLAGER who will prepare horses for us before guiding us through lush jungle to the Sanctuary of Cerro Pelón (from the side of Estado de México and Michoacán).
    Once we reach the sanctuary a forest ranger will give us an explanation of this fantastic phenomenon.
    By the end of the experience we’ll have the option to see some of Zitácuaro and eat at the market before making our way back to Mexico City.

Notes:

  1. All charges (excluding food and tips) are included.
  2. Please bring water, snacks, clothing appropriate for the cold and comfortable shoes.
  3. I will provide you with an expert who will guide the horses, provide safety equiptment, and ensure you are comfortable.
  4. The riding on horses has an estimated time of 2 hrs.
What's Included
  • Private transportation
  • Tollroads
  • Saddles
  • Surcharges on fuel
  • Parking fees
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
  • Breakfast
  • On-board WiFi
  • Alcoholic Beverages
Location
Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve
Cerro Prieto,
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
3.8
(20 Ratings)
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Dale_h
Apr 4, 2023
Best experience ever! Make sure you ride a horse! - What a wonderful adventure! What an amazing guide and the family who hosted us was generous and gracious! I would recommend to anyone. Bring lots of cash as you will feel so grateful you will wish you could tip more! The trip was the mountain was hard, going over boulders but the men who helped us were experts and they made the journey look easy. Once there as I was taking pictures I realized I was missing it, for the rest of the time I was just there, just being in that place, smelling the sweet dirt smell, listening to the silence as the miracle played out before me. I wish someone had told me the way down was easy, it gave me a bit of anxiety thinking about getting back on the horse! Lol. It seemed the butterflies followed us as we made our decent. Wafting to and fro, not a care in the world. The family lead us into their home and made us an authentic delicious meal! Thank you for being our gracious host. The ride home, over two hours seemed like twenty minutes as the conversation was so ignited by our experience. All in all, a day I will remember for a life time! Thanks!
Review provided by Viator
Karenhq9057st
Mar 14, 2023
Experience of a lifetime - We had an amazing tour with Jose to see the Monarch butterflies before they migrated back north. Not only was the experience incredible, our tour guide was the best! On time, fun, great taste in music (for the drive from Mexico City), kind and generous. We highly recommend him for any tour he offers. The monarchs swarming is a site to see - nothing I write here could do it justice. It is an experience of a lifetime. Note to those traveling to Cerro Pelon -read the disclaimer that this is physically challenging and it would take hours to hike yourself - you really need to ride the horse (included) and if you aren't experienced with horses (we weren't) it is harrowing esp. coming down. Steep, high altitude and rocks, lots of rocks - try to relax and trust the horse. Each horse has its own experienced guide leading it up and down the mtn (on foot). Hold on to the saddle (one hand in front and one in back of it) and lean back (for an hour) when descending. It is mentally exhausting and we were saddle sore the next day but we wouldn't trade this experience for the world. (bad weather could cancel this trip - too dangerous to do in the rain, hence some of the bad reviews for canceling). Four of us (in our 50s) were lucky to have such a beautiful day. If you are in decent shape and adventurous - ck the weight limit and do this trip!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Debra_k
Mar 11, 2023
A truly magical experience with thousands of Monarch butterflies humming overhead against the cerulean sky! - This tour was truly magical! The Monarch butterflies were plentiful, humming overhead and thousands amongst the trees and cerulean sky. Because this sanctuary is fairly new, it allowed us a personal experience vs other more established places that host bus loads. Jose A. was punctual, friendly, and the PERFECT guide! We were grateful to the park rangers and our horse's guides who coaxed them through a very rocky, primitive trail and challenging descent. Highly recommended but may not be for the faint of heart.
Review provided by Viator
Elizabeth
Jan 17, 2023
Butterfly Adventure! - My husband and I had a wonderful, adventurous time! Our tour guide, Rafael, promptly picked us up at 6:30 AM at our rental apartment in CDMX. He was very friendly, professional, knowledgeable, and spoke excellent English. We then picked up the two other members of our tour from their hotel and proceeded to our destination. The car was a standard-sized, pretty new, Volkswagon sedan. It was a scenic 3 hour ride on the toll highway, with a couple bathroom/coffee stops included. When we arrived in the village, we were greeted by a lovely family and their horses. We then proceeded on a 1.5 hour or so horse ride up a steep, rugged, but beautiful forested trail. The horses were each led by a guide on foot, so we did not have to “steer”, but I could imagine this being a challenging horse ride if you are not fit for trail riding. We then dismounted and took a short but steep hike to the lookout location. My husband and I both regularly exercise, but did find ourselves out of breath at the 10,000 ft elevation (Note if you are sensitive to altitude.) Once at the lookout, the butterflies are absolutely breathtaking! Do bear in mind their activity is dependent upon there being warm sun, as they did not fly around when it was cloudy. After getting our fill of viewing the butterflies, we returned back to the village. The family then welcomed us into their home and fed us a delicious chicken mole dish with truly homemade tortillas; the meal was cooked entirely from ingredients in their village! After our meal, we returned with Rafael to Mexico City and were returned to our rental apartment on time. It was such a memorable experience! I would recommend this tour to anyone looking to get off the beaten path and experience a true marvel of nature.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mark_s
Mar 4, 2024
Terrible service from Viator - First day was canceled. No explanation. Second day was a no show. Money was returned, but we scheduled with Viator and then flew to Mexico City for the sole purpose of seeing the Monarchs on my wife's birthday. Never went
Review provided by Viator
Wayne_s
Feb 27, 2024
Bad experience - Viator canceled my tour on the morning of the tour. Thanks viator for a bad experience. I flew aero Mexico just to come to Mexico city to take this tour. I changed my hotel to make it a pickup spot for the tour. Never again will I book viator.
Review provided by Viator
Pat_o
Feb 5, 2024
No Butterflies - No butterflies this year. All tours to this location were canceled. I flew from Northern Wisconsin to Mexico City and waited outside my hotel for 2 hours. Only after I called to find out where they were did I find out the trip had been cancelled weeks ago. This fiasco cost me over $1500.
Review provided by Viator
Bill_s
Feb 2, 2024
Never again - Guide Canceled the night before and only cuz I called to ask. When I tried to chat with viater after waiting forever for them to get back to me, they then shut down the chat because I didn't respond within 2 minutes. Well, at least supposedly they're sending me my money back but I haven't seen it yet.
Review provided by Viator
Connector521489
Jan 29, 2024
Horrible both the tour operator and Trip Advisor - We signed up and paid for this tour. This was a "Life Event" for me, something I had dreamed of doing. We were to meet at the hotel lobby at 6:30am for a full day. No one showed up. We called the tour operator, no answer. We called TripAdvisor/Viator and they were not able to help us. I have tried to contact Trip Advisor for a Refund and their website provides no guidance or help. Very Disappointed
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Illybilly5
Dec 25, 2022
Avoid at all costs! - Most unprofessional, unreliable and inefficient tour operator. Paid for and booked a trip without any word from them. No answer even after contacting them to confirm the trip was happening. Viator/tripadvisor had to contact them before they responded two days alter, only to cancel our trip. It was by then too late to book any other trips as everything was booked for the holiday season. Extremely frustrating experience.
Review provided by Tripadvisor