Why this ride
142 km from Rio de Janeiro to Rio de Janeiro, about 2 h 36 of riding. It goes by way of Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site, Sítio Roberto Burle Marx and back through Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site. Long stretches are under trees.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Tijuca Forest and Sítio Roberto Burle Marx
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 142 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 36
- 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
Rio-Santos Highway
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 22 km this is Rio-Santos Highway, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 22 km
- Named road
- Rio-Santos Highway
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Tijuca Forest
Tijuca Forest sits in the middle of Rio de Janeiro, a mass of green hills that rises right out of the dense city and holds the Christ the Redeemer statue on its peak. It is one of the largest urban forests in the world, and the astonishing thing is that it is not original. In the nineteenth century, coffee plantations and logging stripped these slopes, and the springs that supplied the city began to dry up. In 1861, Emperor Pedro II ordered the land to be replanted, and a major named Manuel Gomes Archer led a team of enslaved labourers who planted tens of thousands of saplings, an early and successful experiment in forest restoration.
Read the complete Tijuca Forest write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tijuca Forest is where the day begins. Next is Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site.
2. Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site
There is hardly any monument here, and that is part of what makes it powerful. The Valongo Wharf in Rio's port district is a sunken stone landing, unearthed in 2011 under the street when the area was being renovated, and it is believed to be the principal place where enslaved Africans arrived in the Americas. Historians estimate that hundreds of thousands of people came ashore at Valongo in the first half of the nineteenth century, after being shipped across the Atlantic in conditions that many did not survive. It was built in 1811 to move the trade away from the city centre, and was later covered by a new quay built for the arrival of a bride for the emperor. The stones lay hidden for the better part of two centuries.
Read the complete Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site comes up about 22 km into the recorded legs. Next is Sítio Roberto Burle Marx.
3. Sítio Roberto Burle Marx
Roberto Burle Marx changed the way the world thought about gardens. The Brazilian landscape architect, painter and plant collector, who died in 1994, designed the wave-patterned promenade along Copacabana beach, the gardens of the Ministry of Education in Rio, and hundreds of other parks and gardens, using native tropical plants in bold, abstract compositions. In 1949 he bought a former coffee estate in Barra de Guaratiba, in the far west of Rio de Janeiro, and turned it into his home, studio and laboratory, filling it with thousands of plant species collected on expeditions across Brazil. Sítio Roberto Burle Marx was added to the World Heritage list in 2021.
Read the complete Sítio Roberto Burle Marx write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 73 km into the recorded legs you reach Sítio Roberto Burle Marx. Next is back through Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site.
4. back through Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site, late in the day. Next is Tijuca Forest.
5. Tijuca Forest
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tijuca Forest write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Tijuca Forest. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Tijuca Forest to Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site
Tijuca Forest → Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site to Sítio Roberto Burle Marx
Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site → Sítio Roberto Burle Marx is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sítio Roberto Burle Marx to back through Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site
Sítio Roberto Burle Marx → back through Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site to Tijuca Forest
back through Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site → Tijuca Forest is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.