The Mariposa Monarca Biosphere Reserve is situated in the eastern part of the state of Michoacán. It was created to protect the habitat of the monarch butterfly’s winter migration and spans over 56,000 hectares of woodland.

The monarch is the only butterfly that migrates both north and south as the birds do. How the species manages to return to the same overwintering spots over several generations is still unkown, but hundreds of millions of them make the journey every year.

There are currently eight sanctuaries within the Biosphere Reserve, and four of these eight are open to the public. Of these, El Rosario near the town of Ocampo has the best developed infrastructure for visitors, including a visitor center, restaurants, well-defined footpaths, security patrols, and stone steps in steep places.