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Butterfly Education Program2023-09-25T21:25:33-04:00

Butterfly Education Program

Who doesn’t love running around in a sunny field with a butterfly net? The Smokies are home to nearly 2,000 species of butterflies, skippers, and moths, including the famous Monarch Butterfly. Every year, Eastern Monarchs migrate en masse to Mexico for the winter, and we would like to learn more about their migration and population status by monitoring them. This free educational program engages participants in monarch natural history, community science, identification of local butterflies, and connection to place in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Age Group: Any age. Children under 18 need an adult guardian in attendance.

Seasonality: Annually each fall. Dates are published in early September.

Why it Matters

Butterflies are important insects that are pollinators and prey, and provide inspiration to those who notice them. For Monarchs in particular, tagging helps us uncover where our Tennessee monarchs overwinter, survival rates along the journey, the timing of the migration, and if their migration changes due to climate change. These beautiful and fascinating insects face many threats, and participating in this educational program helps our community come together to learn how to protect these and other pollinator species in our local ecosystem and beyond.

Butterfly Education Days

Connect to the Smokies and these beautiful insects by spending a day catching, tagging, and learning about butterflies with our volunteer educators! We look forward to bringing this unique educational opportunity to our community members each year – to ensure many different families and individuals can experience this opportunity, please limit your group size to 5. Larger groups can consider booking a private tagging date for a set fee – see below. Please only register for a single date to make space for others.

Registration is required to participate for each member of your group. If you are experiencing difficulty registering due to capacity limits, please try another available date. You will receive a confirmation email once you have successfully registered.

2023 Butterfly Education Dates

September 14 – Sparks – Full

September 14 – Hyatt- Full

September 15 – Sparks – Full

September 16 – Hyatt – Full

September 18 – Sparks- FULL

September 19 – Sparks – Full

September 19 – Hyatt – Full

September 21 – Sparks- Full

September 23 – Hyatt- Full

September 24 – Hyatt- Full

September 24 – Sparks – Full

September 26 – Hyatt – Full

September 26 – Sparks – Full

September 30 – Sparks – Full

October 2 – Hyatt – Full

October 5 – Hyatt – Full

October 6 – Sparks – Full

October 16 – Sparks – Full

October 16 – Hyatt – Full

October 17 – Sparks – Full

October 21 – Hyatt- Full

October 23 – Sparks – Full

October 27 – Hyatt – Full

October 31 – Sparks- Full

If the dates you want to attend are full, you can join our waiting list. Email [email protected] with your name, number, and email address, the specific date you want to attend, and the number of adult and child participants you’d like to bring.

Donate

These fun days in the field are free, but they do come at a cost.  We invite you to contribute as much or as little as you like to our monarch tagging program.  You can bring your donation with you on your tagging day, or you can simply visit the link below to donate online. Please write ‘Monarch tagging program’ in the comments section.

Scheduling Private Groups

Do you have an organized group of people that you would like to take out monarch-tagging?  A ‘group’ could be defined as a scout troop, a home-school cooperative, a special school group, a birthday party, a business retreat, or even a group of friends and family.  With our group reservation program, you have a special opportunity to reserve a day for your group of up to 10 people for a flat rate of $200.  If you are interested in this opportunity, please email Erin at [email protected] to schedule a date and receive registration details.  These dates may differ from the ones listed above.

Where and when do we meet?

At the visitor information shelter at the beginning of the Cades Cove driving loop in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We usually caravan to the fields.  We’ll typically be out for 2-4 hours, ending around 1:30 or 2pm (or later if the weather is nice).  You must be registered to join.

What to Wear

Field clothing, especially long pants, and hard, protective shoes.

What to Bring

  • Please bring your signed NPS waiver forms
  • Plenty of water
  • Lunch and snacks
  • Sun screen and a hat for protection from the sun

Optional Items to Consider Bringing

  • A butterfly net with a big hoop if you have one (don’t go buy one – we provide these)
  • Camera, Binoculars
  • Butterfly Field Guides
  • Bird and Wildflower Field Guides

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