"We had 120,000 in 1997," Natural Bridges docent Kirk Crane told KAZU at the park's Welcome Back Monarchs festival on October 11. He described clusters "the size of you and me" hanging from the eucalyptus. California State Parks puts the 2024 count for the same grove at 10,000.

That drop shapes how November should go along West Cliff Drive. Nearly every big date this month falls on the same few miles of coast, from Natural Bridges State Beach at the west end to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk at the east. The grove's best viewing ends with November, while the Boardwalk's holiday season runs into January.

The grove's best weeks are these weeks

State Parks says monarchs usually arrive at Natural Bridges in mid-October and leave by mid-February, and that "late October and all of November" is often the best time to see them. The Monarch Grove is a Natural Preserve, the only State Monarch Preserve in California. A wheelchair- and stroller-accessible boardwalk leads down to an observation deck in a sheltered, gently sloping eucalyptus canyon.

The timing comes from biology. When the butterflies first land, they fly around and feed. Lily Aravanis, a field interpreter at Natural Bridges, told City on a Hill Press that the clustering comes "later in the season," when "they all hang on to the same branch." Isis Howard of the Xerces Society told the same paper the eucalyptus blooms in winter, just when the monarchs need nectar most. State Parks adds that the butterflies cluster together on days below 60 degrees. In practice, a cool, still November morning is the best bet for seeing them bunched on the branches, not scattered and feeding.

This winter adds a reason not to put it off. In KAZU's October report, Rhiannon Sims of the State Parks Santa Cruz District said a big storm can be too much even for a sheltered grove. Howard said Xerces is "concerned that this winter could damage groves" as an El Niño year arrives. Those are early-season worries, not forecasts. Still, they point the same way as the State Parks calendar: November is the month to go.

The grove has a few house rules, all posted by State Parks:

• No dogs, bicycles, skates or skateboards on the grove boardwalk.
• Don't touch the butterflies.
• Keep voices down. The park calls it a sanctuary experience.

The park is open 8 a.m. to sunset, and the Visitor Center is open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily from October 1 through January 31. Volunteer docents are in the grove daily from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. from mid-October through December, but staffing varies. State Parks suggests calling ahead to check on docents and current butterfly numbers. Vehicle day use is $10.

The count that used to be called Thanksgiving

Every butterfly at Natural Bridges is part of a much smaller statewide picture. The Western Monarch Count runs its 2026 mid-season survey from November 14 to December 6. The count's own results page says this window used to be called the "Thanksgiving count." The 2025 mid-season survey found 12,260 butterflies across all monitored sites.

Set those numbers side by side. State Parks' 2024 figure for Natural Bridges alone is close to the 2025 mid-season total for every monitored site. City on a Hill Press reports that the Western Monarch Count has recorded its five lowest counts in the past ten years, and that western monarchs are down 99 percent since the 1980s. It also notes that as numbers have fallen, Santa Cruz sites have moved to the top of the counts. The grove at the end of West Cliff now carries a large share of what is left.

The 2026 mid-season window opens two days after this post goes up, and it covers the whole stretch of dates below.

November on West Cliff, west to east

The Saturday before Thanksgiving starts at the grove

This year's Santa Cruz Turkey Trot is on Saturday, November 21, not Thanksgiving Day. The race page lists a kids' 1K at 7:45 a.m., a 5K at 8 a.m. and a 10K at 8:30 a.m. The course is a flat out-and-back that starts and finishes at Natural Bridges' back entrance, runs through the park and heads out onto West Cliff Drive. Race headquarters is at Natural Bridges Drive and Delaware Avenue. Registration closes at 7:59 a.m. on November 20, and finishers get Santa Cruz Track Club socks.

The 5K wraps up well before the grove's docent hours begin at 11. That makes race morning an easy two-part outing: run, eat, then walk down to the observation deck once the air warms.

The stretch in between is being rebuilt

Between the grove and the Boardwalk, the West Cliff path is changing. In late August the Santa Cruz City Council approved two path relocations, reported by the Santa Cruz Sentinel. At the end of Getchell Street, where the bluff failed after the December 2025 storms, the multi-use path will move inland and straighten out. That removes eight parking spaces and clears out a large patch of invasive ice plant. City staff told the paper the work was expected to run October through December. Westbound drivers would loop up Fair Avenue to Wanzer Street and down Swift Street before rejoining West Cliff, with that detour in place for up to two months.

The second change is near Lighthouse Field State Beach, above Its Beach. There, a temporary path closure becomes permanent, with a low wooden fence, new landscaping and memorial benches moved back from the edge. The city's Public Works project page lists the work as anticipated in late 2026. It puts the larger 800 West Cliff roadway and path realignment near Lighthouse Field in June through December 2027. If you drive between Natural Bridges and Steamer Lane this month, plan on the Fair, Wanzer and Swift loop being part of the trip.

Thanksgiving weekend fills in from the east

The east end opens last. Boardwalk Winter Wonderland starts Thursday, November 26, and runs noon to 7 p.m. through Sunday the 29th. Admission is free, rides are $2 after 5 p.m., and free light shows run in the Main Plaza every 15 minutes from 5 to 8 p.m. Expect 10 to 15 rides, weather permitting. The opening celebration on Saturday, November 28, has live entertainment plus free cookies and cocoa at 5 p.m., the tree lighting at 5:30 and a drone show at 6. Santa photos are taken aboard a Giant Dipper car.

Midway along the route, the free West Cliff Holiday Outdoor Market sets up in two parking lots near Steamer Lane, 700 West Cliff Drive, on November 27 and 28 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. A few blocks inland, the Downtown Santa Cruz Association begins its holiday run on November 27. The Reindeer Round-Up passport is available at the Downtown Information Kiosk, and the North Pole Mailbox stands in front of Super Silver at Pacific and Walnut. Both run through December 23.

All of this is why the Boardwalk can wait. After Thanksgiving weekend, Winter Wonderland comes back on December 5 and 6, December 12 and 13, and then every day from December 19 through January 3. The grove's "all of November" window closes when the month does.

Coffee at the west end of the walk

Cat & Cloud's Swift Street café is at 719 Swift St., Suite 56, close to Natural Bridges. Its listed hours are 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day. Lookout Santa Cruz featured the location this spring as one of the local cafés that have grown into full-kitchen, all-day spots. Farther east along the cliff, Shrine Coffee is at 544 West Cliff Drive, and Steamer Lane Supply serves food and coffee with outdoor seating at 698 West Cliff Drive, steps from the holiday market lots.

At Moles Group, we keep track of the dates that shape weekends in the coastal towns we serve, from the monarch count window to the night the Boardwalk lights its tree. If you'd like our take on what's coming up around Santa Cruz this winter, schedule a complimentary consultation and we'll be glad to talk it through.