Superagui National Park and Intervales State Park

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Superagui National Park

   You cannot ride into Superagui, and that is exactly why it is still here. The national park covers islands, mangroves, beaches and lowland Atlantic Forest on the northern coast of Paraná state in southern Brazil, and it belongs to the UNESCO-listed Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves. Access is by boat, mostly from Paranaguá or from the small town of Guaraqueçaba, and the reward is a stretch of coastline with no roads, few people and a very rare monkey: the black-faced lion tamarin, which scientists only described in 1990 and which lives in a tiny area of these forests.

   Read the complete Superagui National Park write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Superagui National Park is where the day begins. Next is Serra do Itapitangui.

2. 2. Serra do Itapitangui

   The Serra do Itapitangui rises behind Cananéia, on the southern coast of São Paulo state, a modest coastal range covered in dense Atlantic Forest that looks down on one of the best-preserved estuaries in Brazil. The forest here is part of the Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999, which protects a vast area of forest, mangroves and coastal islands stretching from São Paulo into Paraná. The Mata Atlântica once covered much of Brazil's coast; today, only a fraction remains, and this region holds some of the largest and best-preserved stretches.

   Read the complete Serra do Itapitangui write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Serra do Itapitangui comes up about 233 km into the recorded legs. Next is Intervales State Park.

3. 3. 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

   about 587 km into the recorded legs you reach Intervales State Park. Next is back through Serra do Itapitangui.

4. 4. back through Serra do Itapitangui

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Serra do Itapitangui write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Serra do Itapitangui, late in the day. Next is Superagui National Park.

5. 5. Superagui National Park

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Superagui National Park write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Superagui National Park. That is the ride.