About the Highway 13 Butterfly Trail

This Page is About Restoring Habitat, Connecting Communities, and Inspiring Conservation Across Missouri

The Highway 13 Butterfly Trail is a bold and hopeful initiative weaving conservation, community, and creativity along one of Missouri’s most traveled north-south corridors. Spanning approximately 292 miles from Bethany to Branson, the trail is transforming roadside and public spaces into thriving pollinator habitats that support biodiversity, promote environmental awareness, and strengthen rural economies through ecotourism.

But the Highway 13 Butterfly Trail is more than just a scenic route—it’s a collaborative movement of individuals, families, local leaders, nonprofits, farmers, and educators who believe that conservation can be community-powered, beautiful, and accessible to everyone.

This page shares the story behind the trail, the purpose that drives it, and the people who make it possible.

Why the Trail Was Created

The idea for the trail emerged from a convergence of urgent ecological need and powerful community vision.

Pollinators like monarch butterflies and native bees have seen dramatic population declines in recent decades, largely due to habitat loss, pesticide exposure, and climate stress. Monarch butterflies, in particular, rely on specific native plants—like milkweed—to breed and feed along their migration path, which cuts directly through the heart of Missouri.

Simultaneously, small towns along Highway 13 were looking for ways to reinvigorate their economies, foster local pride, and create attractions that reflect the natural beauty and rural identity of their communities.

By planting native wildflowers in public and roadside spaces, the Highway 13 Butterfly Trail became a way to solve both problems: to restore habitat for pollinators and offer residents and visitors a new reason to slow down, explore, and engage.

What began as a vision in towns like Hamilton and Gallatin quickly spread into a multi-county effort supported by public and private stakeholders, including The Nature Conservancy, local governments, the Missouri Department of Conservation, and citizen volunteers across the region.

About Our Mission

The mission of the Highway 13 Butterfly Trail is to create a continuous chain of native pollinator habitats that:

• Support monarch butterflies and other at-risk pollinator species
• Engage local communities in hands-on conservation work
• Foster environmental education for all ages
• Attract visitors and promote sustainable, small-town ecotourism
• Showcase the natural beauty and cultural richness of western Missouri

By building the trail in small segments—one garden, one park, one roadside plot at a time—we are piecing together a lifeline for species in decline while sparking a sense of purpose and connection for the communities involved.

What Makes the Trail Unique

Unlike traditional hiking trails or scenic byways, the Highway 13 Butterfly Trail is a living, blooming network of habitat sites, each one unique to the town or land where it’s planted. You won’t find a single continuous path, but rather a growing constellation of stops—community parks, school gardens, roadside meadows, mural-adorned buildings, and roadside rest areas—each offering a place for butterflies to refuel and for people to reconnect with nature.

Key features that set this trail apart:

• Decentralized Design: The trail exists across multiple sites, all within roughly 13 miles of the Highway 13 corridor.
• Locally Led: Each participating town or landowner helps shape their site, choosing native plant species and helping to maintain the habitat.
• Multi-Benefit Model: Each stop supports ecology, economy, education, and community identity.
• Scalable & Inclusive: From a 100-square-foot garden to a 10-acre park, every plot contributes to the mission.

How the Trail is Built and Maintained

Each plot along the Highway 13 Butterfly Trail is developed with careful ecological planning and community involvement. The process typically includes:

1. Site Selection: Partners identify potential spaces—public parks, roadside pull-offs, schoolyards, or underused lots within the corridor.
2. Site Preparation: Existing turf or vegetation is removed and soil is prepared for planting.
3. Native Planting: Regionally appropriate species, including milkweed, coneflowers, goldenrod, and blazing star, are planted to attract and sustain pollinators.
4. Education and Signage: Interpretive signs explain the site’s ecological role and invite public interaction.
5. Ongoing Stewardship: Local volunteers, school groups, or organizations take ownership of maintaining the plot and tracking its seasonal changes.

This hands-on, place-based approach helps build deeper connections to the land and reinforces community investment in the trail’s long-term success.

The People Behind the Project

The Highway 13 Butterfly Trail is guided by a diverse group of collaborators:

• Local Community Alliances like the Hamilton Community Alliance have played a foundational role in organizing projects and galvanizing local support.
• Nonprofit Organizations, including The Nature Conservancy, provide expertise, coordination, and funding.
• County and City Governments have contributed land, signage, and public outreach.
• Schools and Youth Programs are using the trail as a living classroom to teach ecology, sustainability, and stewardship.
• Private Landowners and Farmers have offered their land as restoration sites and helped educate their neighbors on sustainable practices.
• Volunteers—from master gardeners to high school students—are the heart of the trail, planting and maintaining plots year-round.

This multi-stakeholder structure ensures that the trail is not only ecologically impactful but also socially resilient and locally loved.

Our Long-Term Vision

The Highway 13 Butterfly Trail is still growing. While the groundwork has been laid in key communities, the ultimate goal is to build a fully connected corridor of habitats and interpretive stops from Bethany to Branson.

Future priorities include:

• Expanding into all twelve Highway 13 counties
• Developing an interactive, mobile-friendly trail map
• Adding more educational materials at each stop
• Hosting seasonal events and festivals
• Supporting citizen science programs to monitor pollinators
• Encouraging additional towns, schools, and landowners to participate

By keeping the trail open to new partners and responsive to local voices, we ensure its continued relevance and growth for years to come.

How You Can Help

If you believe in the power of nature to bring people together, restore ecosystems, and inspire change, we invite you to join us.

Whether you're a landowner ready to plant, a teacher looking to involve your students, a traveler curious to explore, or a donor wanting to support conservation in action—there’s a place for you on the Highway 13 Butterfly Trail.

Together, we can build something lasting, local, and full of life.

Explore the trail. Restore the land. Support the butterflies.
[Join the Trail] | [Contact Us] | [Start a Pollinator Plot]