Things to do
9-
Cachoeira do Segredo
A fall of about eighty metres at the head of a canyon on the Rio Preto, on the park's longest marked route out from São Jorge. The walk crosses open plateau with no shade for much of it, so most parties start at first light.
-
Cachoeira Santa Bárbara
A short fall into a pool of extraordinary turquoise, on land held by the Kalunga, descendants of escaped slaves who have farmed these valleys since the eighteenth century. Visits are booked through the community and go with a local guide.
-
Catarata dos Couros
A chain of falls and pools on the Rio dos Couros west of town, reached down a rough track that needs high clearance and is often impassable in the wet. The reward is a set of drops of very different sizes strung along a single stretch of river.
-
Jardim de Maytrea
An open plain of cerrado grass and buriti palms on the road to São Jorge, with the Serra da Baleia lying across the horizon behind it. It is the one place on the plateau where the scale of the chapada is legible from the roadside.
-
Parque Nacional da Chapada dos Veadeiros
A World Heritage park on some of the oldest exposed rock on earth, protecting quartz plateau, cerrado and the canyons of the Rio Preto. Entry is capped daily and booked online, and every trail inside it is walked out and back on the same day.
-
Pousada Casa Rosa
A long running pousada in the old quarter of Alto Paraíso, built low around gardens and a pool with the plateau behind it. Rooms are plain and quiet, and the position puts the park, the Couros track and the town's restaurants all within easy reach.
-
Saltos do Rio Preto
Two falls on the Rio Preto inside the national park, of roughly a hundred and twenty and eighty metres, reached on a rocky trail of about eleven kilometres from the São Jorge gate. The lower pool is deep and cold and takes swimmers all year.
-
São Jorge
A crystal mining settlement of sand streets that became the village at the park gate, with pousadas, guides and a drum circle rather than a bank or a fuel station. It is the closest bed to the trails and the reason many visitors skip Alto Paraíso.
-
Vale da Lua
A run of quartz riverbed on the São Miguel scoured by the current into bowls, chutes and hollows that look poured rather than cut. It sits on private land outside the park and closes without warning when the river rises, which it can do in minutes.