Why this ride
It goes by way of Veracruz Station, PAU Brazil CEPLAC Experimental Station, Monte Pascoal National Park and back through PAU Brazil CEPLAC Experimental Station. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserves and Monte Pascoal National Park
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 611 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 13 h 46
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserves → Veracruz Station
Slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did. Water arrives beside the road and stays for 54 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 90 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserves
In April of 1500 the Portuguese fleet under Pedro Álvares Cabral sighted a mountain on the Bahia coast, called it Monte Pascoal because it was Easter, and went ashore nearby. That is the usual start of Brazil's written history, and the stretch of coast around Porto Seguro and Santa Cruz Cabrália has been called the Costa do Descobrimento, the Coast of Finding, ever since. The Atlantic Forest reserves behind the beaches protect what is left of one of the most diverse and most reduced forests on Earth. Only a small fraction of the original Mata Atlântica remains, and the patches in southern Bahia are especially rich in plants and animals found nowhere else.
Read the complete Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserves write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserves is where the day begins. Next is Veracruz Station.
2. Veracruz Station
On 22 April 1500, a Portuguese fleet under Pedro Alvares Cabral anchored off this coast of Bahia, and the history of Brazil as a European colony began. The fleet was bound for India, and was blown far to the west, and the first mass in Brazil was held on shore a few days later. The area around Porto Seguro and Santa Cruz Cabralia is still called the Costa do Descobrimento, and the stretch of Atlantic Forest behind it is a UNESCO World Heritage listing, the Atlantic Forest Reserves of that same coast, one of the last pieces of lowland coastal forest in the north-east of the country. Veracruz Station is one of its protected areas.
Read the complete Veracruz Station write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Veracruz Station comes up about 90 km into the recorded legs. Next is PAU Brazil CEPLAC Experimental Station.
3. PAU Brazil CEPLAC Experimental Station
In April 1500, the Portuguese fleet of Pedro Álvares Cabral, sailing for India, sighted land on this coast and anchored near what is now Porto Seguro, in southern Bahia, making the first recorded European landfall in Brazil. The country took its name from the pau-brasil, a tree whose red wood was valuable for making dye and was exported in huge quantities in the early colonial period, nearly wiping it out. The CEPLAC experimental station near Porto Seguro, an agricultural research facility, lies within the Atlantic Forest reserves of this coast, listed by UNESCO in 1999 together with other protected areas of the Costa do Descobrimento.
Read the complete PAU Brazil CEPLAC Experimental Station write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 149 km into the recorded legs you reach PAU Brazil CEPLAC Experimental Station. Next is Monte Pascoal National Park.
4. Monte Pascoal National Park
On Easter Sunday 1500 the lookouts of Pedro Álvares Cabral's fleet saw a rounded mountain rising out of the Atlantic haze and called it Monte Pascoal, Easter Mountain. A few days later the Portuguese landed on the coast nearby, and the story of European Brazil began. The mountain still stands over the low forested coastline of southern Bahia, and the national park around it protects some of the last stretches of Atlantic forest in this region. It is part of the Atlantic forest reserves of the Costa do Descobrimento, listed by UNESCO in 1999.
Read the complete Monte Pascoal National Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Monte Pascoal National Park, about halfway. Next is back through PAU Brazil CEPLAC Experimental Station.
5. back through PAU Brazil CEPLAC Experimental Station
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete PAU Brazil CEPLAC Experimental Station write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through PAU Brazil CEPLAC Experimental Station sits at 218 km, about halfway. Next is back through Veracruz Station.
6. back through Veracruz Station
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Veracruz Station write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Veracruz Station comes up about 520 km into the recorded legs. Next is Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserves.
7. Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserves
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserves write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserves closes the day.
Leg by leg
Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserves to Veracruz Station
Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserves → Veracruz Station is 90 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Veracruz Station to PAU Brazil CEPLAC Experimental Station
Veracruz Station → PAU Brazil CEPLAC Experimental Station is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
PAU Brazil CEPLAC Experimental Station to Monte Pascoal National Park
PAU Brazil CEPLAC Experimental Station → Monte Pascoal National Park is 157 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Monte Pascoal National Park to back through PAU Brazil CEPLAC Experimental Station
Monte Pascoal National Park → back through PAU Brazil CEPLAC Experimental Station is 157 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through PAU Brazil CEPLAC Experimental Station to back through Veracruz Station
back through PAU Brazil CEPLAC Experimental Station → back through Veracruz Station is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Veracruz Station to Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserves
back through Veracruz Station → Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserves is 91 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.