Welcome to the Cambridge Butterfly Trail! Explore Cambridge’s green spaces through the wings of 30 beautiful butterflies and moths.
This self-guided trail celebrates some of the incredible species of butterfly and moth you might spot in the city and surrounding countryside. At each stop, you’ll find a rubbing plaque and information about a different species.
How to take part
- Start anywhere on the trail – there’s no fixed order.
- Use this collection form [PDF, 0.2MB] to take rubbings of all 30 butterfly and moth plaques around the city.
- You can also pick up a copy of the collection form from one of our community centres.
- When you’ve completed the trail, send us a photo of your completed sheets.
Butterflies and moths in Cambridge
The trail includes 30 species of butterflies and moths found in Cambridge. Each one is featured on the marker posts you can find in parks and playgrounds around the city.
Check the map to see where the markers are located, or select the name of a species below to find out more.
Butterfly trail markers
Butterflies and moths on the trail
- Angle shades – at Histon Road recreation ground
- Brimstone – at Coleridge recreation ground
- Buff-tip moth – at Nine Wells local nature reserve
- Cinnabar – at Alexandra Gardens
- Comma – at Nightingale recreation ground
- Elephant hawk-moth – at Cherry Hinton chalk pits
- Emperor moth – at Stourbridge Common local nature reserve
- Essex skipper – at King’s Hedges recreation ground
- Gatekeeper – at Midsummer Common community orchard
- Green-veined white – at Limekiln Close local nature reserve
- Large skipper – at Barnwell East local nature reserve
- Large white – at Bramblefields local nature reserve
- Lime hawk-moth – at Donkey Common
- Marbled white – at Coldham’s Common local nature reserve
- Meadow brown – at Trumpington recreation ground
- Orange-tip – at Barnwell West local nature reserve
- Peacock – at Empty Common community garden
- Pine hawk-moth – at Cherry Hinton Hall park
- Poplar hawk-moth – at Sheep’s Green and Coe Fen local nature reserve
- Privet hawk-moth – at Five Trees park
- Purple hairstreak – at Byron’s Pool local nature reserve
- Red admiral – at Christ’s Pieces
- Ringlet – at Grantchester Meadows
- Six-spot burnet moth – at Hobson’s Park
- Small skipper – at Nuns Way recreation ground
- Small tortoiseshell – at Midsummer Common
- Small white – at Lammas Land
- Speckled wood – at Paradise local nature reserve
- Swallowtail – at Logan’s Meadow local nature reserve
- White-letter hairstreak – at St Albans Road recreation ground
Image credits
The beautiful photos of butterflies, moths and caterpillars on these pages were taken by:
- Garry Barlow
- Rob Blanken
- Patrick Clement
- Andrew Cooper
- Paul Davis
- Allan Drewitt
- Bob Eade
- Peter Eeles
- Adam Gor
- Gail Hampshire
- Tapio Kujala
- Ian Leach
- Steve Maskell
- Heath McDonald
- Tim Melling
- Dean Morley
- John Murray
- Tamás Nestor
- Ben Sale
- Gilles San Martin
- Rachel Scopes
- Mark Searle
- Ryszard Szczygiel
- Ervin Szombathelyi
- Koen Thonisson
Win free entry to the Botanic Garden
If you are one of the first 20 people to complete the trail and send in your rubbings, you’ll receive a pair of free tickets to the Cambridge University Botanic Garden!
There, to continue your butterfly journey, you can explore the beautiful gardens and follow their wildlife-friendly gardening trail.
The free tickets are kindly provided by the botanic garden, who are also a proud partner of the Cambridge Nature Network.
Trail accessibility
All trail posts are located on accessible paths, suitable for pushchairs and wheelchairs.
Share your journey
Did you spot any butterflies or moths along the way?
- Share your photos by tagging @camcitco on social media.
- View the full trail map and locations.
Help butterflies at home
You can support butterflies and moths beyond the trail by creating a ‘wild space’. Even a small garden, balcony, or window box can provide foodplants and shelter.
- Find out more about Butterfly Conservation’s Wild Spaces programme.
Discover more of nature around you
Why stop at butterflies? There is so much more to explore in and around Cambridge. Visit our local nature reserves and uncover the wild wonders on your doorstep.
Cambridge City Council is proud to be a partner of the Cambridge Nature Network, an ambitious initiative supporting landscape-scale nature recovery across Cambridge and the surrounding areas.
Together, we are working to restore habitats, protect wildlife and create a greener, healthier future for all.
