The oldest butterfly garden in the country is right here in Northern California, and it looks like something truly magical to experience.
Among farms and wineries in Sonoma County is Hallberg Butterfly Gardens, tucked away in Sebastopol, California. It's a wildlife sanctuary and non-profit 501c3 that focuses on conservation, education, and celebrating the community.
Rather than a closed butterfly house, it features trails on nine acres of overgrown vines and meadows for visitors to walk along and visit with the butterflies.
Butterfly populations are a bit more scarce from July to October, but are abundant from April to June. But either way, this is a magical family-friendly experience for any time of year.
Hallberg Butterfly Gardens also has an extensive past with helping the butterflies. According to an Instagram post, Louise Hallberg and her mother, Della, planted their first Pipevine in their garden during the 1920s after admiring the plant growing on the side of a road. Over the next century, the vines spread and have become home for generations upon generations of caterpillars. This one plant led to Hallberg Butterfly Gardens becoming the oldest butterfly garden in the country.
Read more about the garden's origins in the Instagram post below, and be sure to check out their website here to plan your trip there.