The Butterfly Experience

April 10- September 21, 2025

Brookside Gardens Conservatory-1500 Glenallan Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20902

Parking at the Brookside Gardens Conservatory

Welcome to the Butterfly Experience at Brookside Gardens! When you arrive at the Conservatory (1500 Glenallan Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20902), you will park in the parking lot next to the Conservatory, which has accessible parking spots. If the parking lot is full, you can also park at the Visitor Center (1800 Glenallan Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20902) and walk over to the Conservatory.

Arriving at the Butter Fly Experience

To enter the Butterfly Experience, you join the line around the corner of the building.

A brick building with trees and a blue sky and a sign that says Brookside Gardens

Around the side of the Conservatory, you will find a butterfly garden that you will line up next to.

Strollers are not allowed inside the experience and will need to be left outside once you join the line. This is to protect the butterflies. However, wheelchairs are allowed.

A white sign that says "Strollers are not permitted past this point" and in Spanish "No se permiten los cochecitos mas alla de este punto"

Entering the Butterfly Experience

Once it is your turn to go inside the exhibit, you will enter a small room where you will wait for the staff member to let you in. Throughout your visit to the Butterfly Experience, staff members will be wearing green shirts, name tags, and aprons. Please ask them for questions or help when you need it!

Once you are inside the room, the staff member will wait until there is room for you to go inside the experience. You will go through double doors. The doors have signs and information on them to help us protect the butterflies. Once you are inside and the door is closed, you will go through a set of black curtains. These help keep the butterflies inside.

Double glass doors with signs on the front and signs that say pull and stop.

An image of transparent curtains with the gardens in the background

Inside the Butterfly Experience

The experience is warm and humid, which is the preferred environment for butterflies. There is also a fountain in the space so you may hear running water. It may also be crowded, as a lot of people will come to visit the butterflies. If you’d like a less crowded visit, we recommend attending on a rainy or cloudy day.

An image of a greenhouse with colorful flowers, trees and stone.

Once you are inside the experience, you will be able to see butterflies flying the space, sitting on the ground, and sitting on flowers. Make sure to watch your step to avoid stepping on the butterflies.

A small white butterfly surrounded by colorful flowers and green plants.

An orange and black and white butterfly on a stone ground.

The butterflies may come very close to your face and body. They may also land on you. If a butterfly lands on you, please ask one of the volunteers or staff members for assistance in removing it. Please do not touch the butterflies, the plants, or the water, as this can hurt the butterflies. Please take as many pictures as you would like of the butterflies and plants!

The butterflies have stations throughout the room to eat and drink. Please do not touch the food for the butterflies.

A bird feeder with food for butterflies like oranges, grapes and liquid.

A bowl of water surrounded by colorful flowers and green plants.

While you are visiting, you might see the butterflies take part in mating behavior or competing for mates. The butterflies are also more active when it is sunny and are less active when it is cloudy. If you have any questions about a butterflies’ behavior, please ask a volunteer or staff member.

There are also signs throughout the experience that can give you information about the butterflies.

An image of a sign that describes the external anatomy of the butterfly and the caterpillar that includes an image of a blue, black and yellow butterfly.

There is also a whiteboard with pictures of butterflies that are flying throughout the experience and their names. Take a look to see who is flying today!

An image of a white board with several pictures of butterflies.

If you need to sit down while you are in the experience, there are wooden benches and a bench shaped like a butterfly for you to sit in. The green chairs are used by volunteers and staff.

An image of an iron bench shaped like a butterfly.

Exiting the Butterfly Experience

When you are ready to leave, you can go to the exit door, where a staff member will help you exit. There are SIX steps to exit.

Step 1: A staff member will ask your group of five or less to enter the yellow box painted on the floor of the exhibit.

A sign that says "Form line here to exit"

An image of an exit door with black curtains.

The staff member will ask you to check your head, shoulders, legs, and feet to make sure there aren’t any butterflies on you. If you are wearing a skirt, they will ask you to swish your skirt to make sure butterflies have not climbed on your legs.

Step 2: You will go through the curtains. It is important not to part the curtains, but to let them move over you, like at a car wash. This will also help remove butterflies.

Step 3: Once you are past the curtains and they are all closed, you will pass through a door.

Two black doors side by side with signs on them that say "Push" "Stop" and one additional sign

Step 4: After that door is closed, you will check for butterflies one more time in a mirror.

An image of a person looking at herself in a full length mirror.

Step 5: After you finish checking, you will go through another set of doors.

Glass doors that have a sign that says "stop"

Step 6: After that set of doors is closed, you will go through a final set of doors.

Going through the doors will conclude your visit to The Butterfly Experience!

An image of a teal and white welcome sign that says "Thank you for visiting The Butterfly Experience"

Restroom, Water & AED Location

Once you exit the Conservatory, you can go on the path to left to head back to the parking lot. This path also leads to the front of the Conservatory, which has the nearest bathrooms and garbage cans.

Restroom signs and a water filler station

Trash and recycling bins up against a wall with signs.

You can also go to the right, which will lead you to the rest of Brookside Gardens.

A concrete sidewalk surrounded by trees and bushes.

Wooden ramp and stone stairs surrounded by bushes and trees with a blue sky.

Ticketing

We anticipate that the Butterfly Experience will be popular so please purchase your tickets online ahead of time.

Day of tickets are limited but can be purchased online or via an onsite QR code. The QR Codes will be on rack cards in the Conservatory vestibule (where the bathrooms, water fountain and AED are located) but also on signs at the entrance to the event.

Please be on the lookout for Sensory Friendly Days to be scheduled in the near future.

Thank you for coming!