Every winter, more than 10,000 monarch butterflies migrate from as far north as Canada to the Goleta Butterfly Grove in California, and the Bacara Resort & Spa nearby helps its guests see them with its “Bike to the Butterflies” program.
Offered every Saturday from Nov. 15 to Feb. 14, the experience costs $59 a person and includes a three-hour bike rental from the property as well as a packed lunch.
Guests bike on their own to the 137-acre grove, which is less than two miles away and one of the largest wintering locations in California. Once there they can see the monarchs gathering on the hundreds of eucalyptus trees and learn more them from docents at the grove.
They can also take walks on the several marked trails leading to the bluffs and beaches of the Gaviota Coast.
The property’s general manager, Kathleen Cochran, said that an excursion to the grove is something of a tradition in the area.
“Every year just like people on the East Coast like to view the fall colors, locals here look forward to the butterfly season and to visiting the grove because they are such a beautiful natural phenomenon,” she said in a phone interview.