Serra Furada State Park

General information

The Serra Furada State Park (in Portuguese: Parque Estadual da Serra Furada) was established in 1980 with an area of 1,330 hectares. It is located in the municipalities of Grão-Pará and Orleans in the state of Santa Catarina. This conservation unit is geographically linked, in the western portion, to the area of ​​the São Joaquim National Park, increasing biodiversity protection.

Due to its proximity to the cliffs of the Serra Geral, beautiful landscapes can be admired in the Park and its surroundings. Its mountains with pointed peaks can be seen from afar, its highest point, the Morro da Forquilha, stands at 1,508 meters above sea level, and the Serra Furada is the geological monument that gave its name to the park and the community of Serra Furada, in Grão-Pará.

When to visit

Visits can be made daily from 08:00 to 17:00, with at least 48 hours’ notice required for scheduling.

Prior scheduling for visitation is MANDATORY.

• Scheduling: Monday to Friday – 12:00 PM to 7:00 PM
• WhatsApp: (48) 99172-8817
• Email: [email protected]

Visitation:

• With visitor guide: daily (08:00 AM to 5:00 PM)
• Without guide: Monday to Friday (12:00 PM to 5:00 PM)

There is no entrance fee into the park.

How to get there

It is recommended to use Google Map to find best route to the park. Please note, there are two headquarters for the park: one is South headquarter (sede sul), the other is North headquarter (sede norte).

Attractions

Find out what to do in the Serra Furada State Park:

From norte headquarter (sede norte), visitors can start with following attractions:

Mirante da Serra Furada

(Serra Furada Viewpoint)

• Length: 850 meters (from the headquarters to the viewpoint at the beginning of the trail)
• Approximate duration: 40 minutes

About access:

Access to the viewpoint is via a slightly uphill walk along the property’s servitude until the beginning of the Serra Furada Trail, where you have a beautiful view of the Serra Furada landform. Along the way, you can observe native vegetation at a medium stage interspersed with eucalyptus plantations that are being removed as this is an exotic species.

Serra Furada Trail

To hike the trail, it is necessary to hire a park-accredited and trail-qualified visitor guide.

• Length: 3,500 meters (round trip, starting from the house at the northern headquarters)
• Rating: Difficult
• Approximate duration: 5 hours

About the Trail:

This trail leads to the monument that gave the park its name, the Serra Furada. Inside the Serra Furada fissure, at 900 meters above sea level, you have a beautiful panoramic view of the park’s surroundings and the Rio do Meio valley.

The trail has an elevation gain of 450 meters (starting from the headquarters). It is a hike with many obstacles, uneven terrain, and places where it is necessary to use hands to maintain balance. In case of a fall, there is a risk of serious accidents. To access the fissure, which is at 900 meters above sea level, it is necessary to climb about 30 meters through three sections of via ferrata interspersed with ropes, which should only be done with safety equipment provided by the guide. Inside the fissure, there is little space for movement, which must be done respecting safety limits.

From south headquarter (sede sul), visitors can start with following attractions:

Circuito das Cachoeiras

(Waterfall Circuit)

• Length: 3,900 meters
• Rating: Moderate

The Waterfall Circuit starts at the southern headquarters of the Park and follows sections of the Upper Rio do Meio, alternating between the riverbed and dirt trails, so be prepared to get your feet wet. It passes by 7 waterfalls and small falls, creating beautiful scenery that highlights the importance of forest conservation for water resources quality.

The seven waterfalls/falls are:

• Otter’s Shower;
• Escadinha Waterfall;
• Little Jump;
• Aguaí Waterfall;
• Two Falls Waterfall;
• Fallen Log Waterfall;
• Piava Jump.

Canela Grande circuit

(Big Cinnamon Circuit)

• Length: 4,300 meters
• Rating: Moderate
• Approximate duration: 4 hours

About the trail:

Moderate hike with small obstacles and crossings of small streams, occasionally wetting your feet. The trail begins at the southern headquarters and passes through vegetation at different stages of regeneration, reaching one of the most preserved areas of the park, where you can observe a primary forest with centuries-old trees such as black cinnamon, wild orange, peroba, bicuíva, guarajuva, among others. On the way back, you can pass by the Piava Jump and a viewpoint before returning to the starting point.

Salto da Piava trail

• Length: 2,120 meters
• Rating: Easy
• Approximate duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes

About the trail:

Walk with small obstacles (bridges, slight incline, and steps) and slightly irregular terrain. The trail starts at the Center for Research and Environmental Education Support (CAPEA/southern headquarters) and passes through vegetation at different stages of regeneration, reaching the Piava Jump, a waterfall with a height of 10 meters on the Upper Rio do Meio. To reach the Piava Jump, you need to descend 72 steps. The return follows part of the same path (325 meters), where you will find a fork that leads to a natural viewpoint, providing another angle to observe the park’s mountain range before returning to CAPEA.

Lagostim circuit

(Crayfish Circuit)

• Length: 600 meters
• Rating: Easy
• Approximate duration: 30 minutes

About the trail:

Easy walk that starts at the Center for Research and Environmental Education Support (CAPEA/south headquarter), crossing an area that used to be pasture and is in the early stages of natural restoration. The circuit is named after the swamp crayfish (Parastacus sp.) that lives in the surrounding wetland.

Facts about Serra Furada State Park

Geology

The State Park of Serra Furada is mainly composed of the Rio do Rasto, Botucatu, and Serra Geral rock formations. During the Botucatu formation, extensive sand dunes, deposited by wind action, formed the great “Botucatu desert” that is currently observed in the thick sandstone layers here, with emphasis on the geological monument of Serra Furada, which gives the park its name.

Another significant geological feature of the park is the Serra Geral volcanism with successive lava flows that began approximately 160 million years ago and record the history of continental drift with the fragmentation of the ancient Gondwana continent and the formation of South America and Africa.

Relief

Its current relief is the result of intense erosion that began during the separation between South America and Africa with the formation of the Atlantic Ocean that began to exist between the two continents. Over time, the action of climate variations, rainfall, winds, mass movements, and rivers has sculpted its extremely steep hills and mountains, erosive processes observed to this day.

Climate

Due to its geographical location, the relative humidity of the air is high, around 85%, resulting in an average annual rainfall of 1,500 mm. The Park protects numerous springs that form the Minador, Meio, Upper Meio, and Braço Esquerdo rivers, which are part of the Tubarão River Basin and Lagoon Complex.

Biodiversity

The ecological relevance of the Serra Furada State Park is related to the conservation of environments that form the Brazilian Atlantic Forest corridor, belonging to one of the most biodiverse and threatened biomes on the planet, the Atlantic Forest. In the state of Santa Catarina, it comprises the southern portion of the largest continuous forest contingent represented by the Dense Ombrophilous Forest and is part of the core zone of the Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve. The park protects a significant number of rare and endangered forest species, special types of high-altitude vegetation, and primary forests of relevant importance for local forest regeneration.

In the park, endangered animals such as the jaguarundi (Leopardus pardalis), little spotted cat (Leopardus guttulus), ocelot (Leopardus wiedii), oncilla (Herpailurus yagouaroundi), puma (Puma concolor), and collared peccary or wild pig (Pecari tajacu) find refuges here.

The park presents a high richness of birds, with 229 species, of which 39 are endemic to the Atlantic Forest, meaning they only occur in this biome, and some are endangered, such as the surucuá-de-barriga-amarela (Trogon viridis), solitary tinamou (Tinamus solitarius), rusty-margined guan (Penelope superciliaris), black-and-white hawk-eagle (Spizaetus tyrannus), and black-cheeked gnateater (Biatas nigropectus).

Many amphibian species found in the park are bioindicators of environmental quality, being closely related to forest environments with clean water streams. So far, 27 species of amphibians have been identified in the park, three of which are endangered, including the glass frog (Vitreorana uranoscopa), marginated tree frog (Hypsiboas marginatus), and Ehrhardt’s tree frog (Aplastodiscus ehrhardti), it is common to find the horned frog (Proceratophrys boiei) camouflaged in the leaf litter of the forest.

Fourteen species of reptiles have been recorded in the park so far, such as the tegu lizard (Tupinambis merianae) and the Ihering’s green lizard (Enyalius iheringii). Among the most common snakes to be sighted are the jararaca (Bothrops jararaca), which is venomous, the rat snake (Spilotes pullatus), and the blue racer (Echinanthera cyanopleura).