Lauraceas State Park and Alto Ribeira Touristic State Park

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Lauraceas State Park

   The Vale do Ribeira is one of the least developed regions of São Paulo state, a long valley of banana plantations, tea fields, small towns and thick forest, with a river that runs unimpeded to the sea. Because it was never heavily built up, it holds the largest remaining block of Atlantic Forest in Brazil, and the state parks of the area, among them Lauráceas, protect it. The name refers to the laurel family, which includes trees such as canelas and sassafras that grow tall in the damp forest, and which give the park its scent of spice when the wind moves the leaves.

   Read the complete Lauraceas State Park write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Lauraceas State Park is where the day begins. Next is Intervales State Park.

2. 2. Intervales State Park

   There is a place in the hills of south-east São Paulo state where you can hear a monkey you will probably never see. The muriqui, the largest primate in the Americas, lives in the Atlantic Forest of the Serra de Paranapiacaba, and Intervales State Park, one of the largest protected areas of that forest, is one of its refuges. The park covers more than forty thousand hectares of steep, misty hills, with giant ferns, bromeliads, orchids and trees hung with vines, and it is part of the Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves, listed by UNESCO in 1999. Toucans, tapirs and, rarely, jaguars share it.

   Read the complete Intervales State Park write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Intervales State Park comes up about 115 km into the recorded legs. Next is Alto Ribeira Touristic State Park.

3. 3. Alto Ribeira Touristic State Park

   The Ribeira valley, in the south of Sao Paulo state, holds the largest remaining stretch of Atlantic Forest in Brazil, and under it lies one of the great cave regions of the Americas. The park called PETAR, the Alto Ribeira Touristic State Park, covers hills of limestone that are riddled with hundreds of caves, many of them with underground rivers, huge chambers and elaborate formations of stalactites and stalagmites. The forest above is thick with ferns, bromeliads and trees draped in moss, and it belongs to the Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves, a UNESCO World Heritage listing from 1999.

   Read the complete Alto Ribeira Touristic State Park write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 276 km into the recorded legs you reach Alto Ribeira Touristic State Park. Next is back through Intervales State Park.

4. 4. back through Intervales State Park

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Intervales State Park write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Intervales State Park, late in the day. Next is Lauraceas State Park.

5. 5. Lauraceas State Park

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Lauraceas State Park write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Lauraceas State Park. That is the ride.