Serra da Graciosa Turistical Preservation and Jacupiranga State Park

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Serra da Graciosa Turistical Preservation

   The Serra da Graciosa is the steep green escarpment that separates the high plateau around Curitiba from the coastal plain of Paraná, and the old Graciosa road that runs down it is among the most scenic in southern Brazil. The road was opened in the nineteenth century, linking the interior with the port of Antonina on the Atlantic coast, and for a long time it was the main way for mule trains carrying mate and goods down to the sea. It is about thirty kilometres long, and parts of it are still paved with old stone, which gives it a rattling, slippery character in the wet.

   Read the complete Serra da Graciosa Turistical Preservation write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Serra da Graciosa Turistical Preservation is where the day begins. Next is Guaraquecaba Ecological Station.

2. 2. Guaraquecaba Ecological Station

   Guaraqueçaba is one of those places in Brazil where the road gives up before the forest does. It lies on the northern shore of the great bay of Paranaguá, on the coast of Paraná state, surrounded by mangroves, islands, tidal channels and the steep, forested slopes of the Serra do Mar. The ecological station protects a large area of mangroves and coastal forest, and it is part of the Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves, a World Heritage Site that preserves some of the best remaining stretches of the Mata Atlântica, a forest that once covered much of Brazil's coast and has now been reduced to a fraction of its former extent.

   Read the complete Guaraquecaba Ecological Station write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Guaraquecaba Ecological Station comes up about 77 km into the recorded legs. Next is Jacupiranga State Park.

3. 3. Jacupiranga State Park

   The Vale do Ribeira, in the far south of São Paulo state, holds the largest continuous remnant of Atlantic Forest left in Brazil, and the Jacupiranga area, near the border with Paraná, is part of that green expanse. The Atlantic Forest once covered much of Brazil's coast, but centuries of logging, farming and urban growth reduced it to a fraction of its former extent, and what remains here, together with neighbouring reserves, forms part of the UNESCO site of the Atlantic Forest Southeast Reserves, inscribed in 1999. The forest is incredibly rich in species, with jaguars, pumas, monkeys, toucans and countless orchids and bromeliads.

   Read the complete Jacupiranga State Park write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 281 km into the recorded legs you reach Jacupiranga State Park. Next is back through Guaraquecaba Ecological Station.

4. 4. back through Guaraquecaba Ecological Station

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Guaraquecaba Ecological Station write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Guaraquecaba Ecological Station, late in the day. Next is Serra da Graciosa Turistical Preservation.

5. 5. Serra da Graciosa Turistical Preservation

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Serra da Graciosa Turistical Preservation write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Serra da Graciosa Turistical Preservation. That is the ride.