Take a Day Trip to Two Butterfly Exhibits to Try This Fascinating and Rewarding Hobby

Mar 10, 2021 01:30PM ● By Virginia Dean

Most of us have heard of bird watching but, in the past few years, a new hobby has come about for those interested in nature: butterfly watching! Instead of trying to catch them, watchers try to see them, identify what kind they are, and watch what they’re doing. It’s a fascinating and rewarding hobby!

The Butterfly Place

Even though New Hampshire doesn’t have a number of venues dedicated to butterfly watching, there are outdoor butterfly gardens that are close by and allow for wonderful day trips to see these colorful fliers. Located just ten miles across the border from Nashua in eastern NH, The Butterfly Place in Westford, MA offers an indoor butterfly garden that features free-flying butterflies in an enclosed environment, and a path where visitors may wander among them. The Butterfly Place also has an observation area where visitors find the stages of a butterfly’s life in progress, with eggs, caterpillars, and cocoons on display. The family-operated business opened on February 14 and closes on October 31. Cost is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, and $8 for children under 13.

Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory & Gardens

Less than 20 miles from the southwestern corner of New Hampshire, Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory and Gardens in Deerfield, Massachusetts, features an indoor conservatory housing 8,000 square feet of plant life that serves as home to almost 4,000 butterfly species, and an outdoor garden designed to attract native species during summer. The conservatory welcomes guests all year long. Admission prices as of the time of publication are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, and $8 for students up to 17 years old, or up to 22 years old with a college ID.

Life+Leisure, Today Day Trips