The Sperling Preserve at Ellwood Mesa is home to one of the largest monarch butterfly over-wintering sites in California and is well worth a visit this holiday season.
At Coronado Drive, off Hollister Avenue, drive south to the Coronado Butterfly Preserve. Follow the monarch signs through the eucalyptus grove and across Devereux Creek. This brings you to the Ellwood Main tree-sheltered gully where, in some years, there have been as many as 100,000 butterflies over-wintering.
Follow the path along the rope fence to the main viewing area. On a warm day, many monarchs will be flying or sitting on leaves, sunning themselves with open wings. On a cold day, or in the evening, they will be in dense clusters hanging from the branches overhead.