Ellwood Butterfly Preserve and Beach

Santa Barbara, California, United States

Description

The Butterflies
Ellwood Butterfly Preserve, located in a grove of blue gum eucalyptus trees, is a magical place to be between November and February, when thousands upon thousands of monarch butterflies return here to mate. If you don't see the butterflies at first, look up at the trees. There are so many of them that they look like leaves! Sometimes they will be quietly hanging like leaves, but other times, late in the morning, they will be fluttering all about, making this area a wonderously beautiful spot. Little children will enjoy seeing the butterflies land right by them! Don't touch them though, because they can die from the oil on your skin. The light filtering in through the tall eucalyptus trees and catching the colors on the butterflies' wings is so lovely! It's hard to describe how nice it is! Our friend even asked his wife to marry him here.
The Beach
If you walk up the hill out of the forest, you can go for a nice walk over the wide, flat Ellwood bluffs toward the ocean. There you can look down on gorgeous Ellwood Beach. You can take a short trail down to the beach. Walking the rugged sandy beach is a pleasant way to spend a few hours, breathing in the salt spray and looking up at the white cliffs. There's plenty of driftwood to keep kids busy! However, the walk from the forest to the beach might be too long for small children.
Other Things to Do Nearby
If you're hungry after your walk, head over to Camino Real Marketplace and have one of the best muffins or donuts ever, at Anna's Bakery. Or, eat a delicious chicken kebob at Kahuna Grill, our favorite inexpensive casual cafe. There are really clean restrooms in the archway next to Starbucks.
Really close to Ellwood Butterfly Preserve is Bacara Resort Beach, a nice place to go for a walk amongst wildflowers to a beach covered entirely in large pebbles that make a nice sound as the waves swish over them. For a playground nearby, check out the unusual play structures and beautiful landscaping at Dinosaur Park in Isla Vista. Or play on the playground at expansive Girsh Park. Walk along bluffs and watch the surfers at Coal Oil Point. Or hang out in the college town of Isla Vista and grab a pizza at Woodstocks, surrounded by UCSB students.

Photo Gallery

A lone monarch butterfly might land right beside you!	Hundreds of butterflies!!!	Beautiful Ellwood Beach, as viewed from the bluffs.
View of Ellwood Beach.	Ellwood Beach.	Santa Ynez mountains, as viewed from Ellwood Bluffs.
A place to sit at the beginning of the trail- see the eucalyptus forest behind.	It's lovely to walk in the forest.	Tree covered in bougainvillea.
Friends taking a morning walk in the forest that surrounds the butterfly grove.

Directions

This is an interactive map, you can zoom and move it.

From Highway 101, take the Glen Annie/ Storke Rd exit. Head towards the ocean. Turn right on Hollister Ave and then turn left on Coronado Dr, about the eighth street along on the left. Continue to near the end of the street, and park along the road. You will see the information plaque about the Butterfly Preserve on your right. That is where the trail starts. It's a very short walk to the forest preserve. Once at the preserve, go left up the hill and you will come to the bluffs.
There are no restrooms.