Let’s Explore: Monarch Butterflies at Howarth Park!

By Deborah Quam | October 5, 2026 |

I recently visited Howarth Park with my granddaughter to see the monarch butterfly exhibit. Like many Oakmont residents, I enjoy finding places where I can spend time outdoors with my grandchildren. Howarth is a wonderful place for a walk together, especially when there are giant butterflies to discover along the paths. Lake Ralphine offers a peaceful place to watch the water or stop for a while. If you want a longer walk, Howarth’s trails connect to Spring Lake Regional Park and, from there, to Trione-Annadel State Park. You can make an outing as short or as ambitious as you like. Picnic along the way

Butterflies in the park

The outdoor exhibit is called Las SinCuenta Monarcas. Forty-nine large wooden monarch sculptures are placed throughout Howarth Park, and Monarch No. 1 is at the Museum of Sonoma County. Each measures about 9 by 12 feet and is built like an intricate wooden puzzle. Finding them along the trail made the walk feel like a small adventure. They are striking up close, and the landscape is part of the experience.

Artist Martín Zúñiga created the installation with students from Latino Service Providers. I especially appreciate that young people helped make art the whole community can enjoy for free. The monarch was chosen for its migration across North America and Mexico and for what that journey can mean to people: movement, family histories, change, and resilience. The project brings those ideas into a park where children and adults can encounter them together.

The living monarchs

The sculptures also made me want to learn more about the butterflies themselves. The western monarchs found in California breed across the West and travel to sheltered groves along the California coast for the winter. Eastern monarchs take another route, overwintering in central Mexico. Those are two different migratory populations, and it is the western population whose winter home is close to us.

Milkweed is essential to a monarch’s life cycle: females lay their eggs on it, and the caterpillars feed on it. Adult butterflies need nectar from flowers, including during migration. They also need suitable winter groves. Loss of habitat, pesticides, climate change, and other pressures have contributed to the western monarch’s decline. The exhibit offers a good opening for a conversation with a grandchild about the real butterflies and the places they need.

Art that invites a walk

Las SinCuenta Monarcas also recognizes the 50th anniversary of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s Running Fence. As a teenager, I remember the wonder of seeing that white fabric fence cross our landscape. In 1976, it extended 24.5 miles from near Cotati, across the hills of Sonoma and Marin counties, to the Pacific Ocean at Bodega Bay. It was up for only two weeks, but the sight has stayed with me. The City of Santa Rosa describes the connection this way: “Like Running Fence, which transformed the landscape and encouraged people to experience art beyond the walls of a museum,” the monarch installation invites visitors to encounter art outdoors. The sculpture at the Museum of Sonoma County provides another link between the two exhibits.

If you have not been to Howarth Park in a while, this is a good reason to return. Take a walk by Lake Ralphine, look for the butterflies, and follow the path toward Spring Lake if you have the time and energy. The exhibit is scheduled to remain through October 31, 2026.

Plan your visit

Howarth Park is at 630 Summerfield Road in Santa Rosa. Parking is free. The City of Santa Rosa has exhibit details and a park map online; check current park information before you go.