Campos do Jordão Climb

Up the Mantiqueira to the highest town in Brazil: araucaria pine, cold nights and a road that climbs sixteen hundred metres.

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Why this ride

From Taubaté it runs 92 km to Campos do Jordão; allow about 1 h 46 of riding. The highest point is 1,628 m. The line favours views over speed.

Roadbook

1. Taubaté start · 570 m

   Taubaté is where the day begins.

2. Tremembé scenic · 590 m

   Tremembé lies in the flat green floor of the Paraíba valley, at just under six hundred metres, between two larger cities, Taubaté and Pindamonhangaba. It is not a place most riders choose to see for its own sake, but it is the foot of the mountain, and in a ride like this one, that makes it important. Behind the town the Serra da Mantiqueira rises like a wall, and a few kilometres beyond, the road begins its climb toward Campos do Jordão, which at around sixteen hundred metres is the highest city in Brazil.

   The town takes its name from the Tremembé people, who lived in this stretch of the valley long before the Portuguese reached it. The valley was later coffee country, and then a corridor for rail and road between São Paulo and Rio, which is why the old Via Dutra runs so near. Tremembé today has a population of about thirty thousand, a lively old centre with a square and a church, and the slightly confusing reputation of having a well-known prison on its outskirts. Visitors mostly see only the commercial strip along the highway and the cafes on the way out.

   Come here to prepare. Fuel is easy, plentiful and a good deal cheaper than anything you will find up the mountain, and the lunch counters serve the standard Brazilian plate of rice, beans and grilled meat at a price that has not caught up with the resort towns above. The valley is also hot and humid, so it is a good place to sort out gear: you will leave in a T-shirt and arrive in the cloud with a jacket on. Mornings are the best time, before the heat builds and before the weekend traffic from São Paulo takes over the climb.

   The climb itself, up the state road SP-123, is a proper motorcycle road. It turns tight, bends back on itself, passes through pines and araucarias as the air cools, and can be foggy at the top whatever the sky looks like in the valley. Watch for wet patches, lorries labouring on the bends, and sudden banks of mist. If the weather is bad in Tremembé, it is worse above, so make the decision here, not halfway up.

3. Campos do Jordão scenic · 1628 m

   Campos do Jordão is the highest town in Brazil, at 1,628 metres in the Serra da Mantiqueira, and it behaves like it. The air is cool, even on summer evenings, pine and araucaria trees line the streets, and in winter the temperature can fall close to freezing, which draws visitors from São Paulo who want to wear a scarf and eat fondue. The architecture leans toward Swiss and Bavarian chalets, a style that began when the town became a health resort in the early twentieth century, prized for its clean, dry mountain air as a place to recover from tuberculosis.

   The town spreads along a valley, with the lively Capivari district at its centre, full of chocolate shops, restaurants and boutiques, and quieter quarters up the hillsides. Each July, the Winter Festival of classical music, held since 1970, brings orchestras and soloists to concert halls and open-air stages, and the town fills with visitors. The Horto Florestal, a forest reserve on the edge of town, shelters araucarias, streams and trails, while a chairlift climbs to the Morro do Elefante for a view over the valley.

   The road up from the lowlands is a pleasure for riders, with long, curving ascents through eucalyptus and pine, cooler air at every bend and good views. The tarmac is mostly smooth, though weekends see heavy traffic, particularly in July and on holidays, with lines of cars on the final approach. Fog and drizzle can arrive suddenly and the temperature drops quickly, so a warm layer helps. Mornings are best, with fresh air and light traffic, and mid-week is far calmer.

   Fuel is available in the town, and the whole area is well supplied with restaurants, bakeries and cafés. Local specialities include trout, pinhão, fondue and hot chocolate, and prices rise in high season. Parking in the centre is tight and fills quickly, so choose a hotel with secure parking if you stay. The streets are steep and can be slippery in the wet, so ride carefully.

4. São Bento do Sapucaí finish · 780 m

   São Bento do Sapucaí closes the day. You lose 848 m on the way down to it, steadily.

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