Location: Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais Map
Caparaó National Park is protected area situated
in Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais states in Brazil. The park is
located on the border between the states of Espirito Santo and Minas
Gerais and occupies seven cities on the side of Espírito Santo and
four on the mining side. About 80% of the park is in the state of
Espírito Santo. Pico da Bandeira, with 2,891 meters, the highest
point of the park, is located on the border of the states. Pico do
Cristal, with 2,769 meters is exclusively in Minas Gerais territory.
The park also houses other peaks, smaller in size but also of
considerable altitude, such as Cruz do Negro Hill (2,658 meters),
Pedra Roxa (2,649 meters), Cabritos or Treasury Peak (2,620 meters),
Tesourinho Peak (2,584 meters), and Pedra Girl (2,037 meters) all in
Espírito Santo territory.
This park is one of the most
representative areas of Atlantic Forest in the state of Espírito
Santo, which covers much of the Serra do Caparaó, and is also found
on the slopes of the Serra do Castelo, Forno Grande and Pedra Azul.
Serra do Caparaó is a branch of the Serra da Mantiqueira,
interconnecting with the Serra do Brigadeiro and Pai Inácio in Minas
Gerais.
Around 1859, the emperor Dom Pedro II ordered that
an empire flag be placed on the highest peak of the Caparaó
Mountain. The name Pico da Bandeira is believed to be due to this
fact.
Serra do Caparaó was still the scene of the Guerrilha
do Caparaó, political instability that occurred in 1964. In 1967,
the Guerrilha do Caparaó was defeated by the Minas Gerais Military
Police and not by the Armed Forces, which arrived after a statement
from the Military Police reporting the arrest. of the
revolutionaries.
The guerrillas, already weakened and ill due
to the weather and the difficulties of survival in such an
inhospitable place, were reported by a pharmacy owner from Espera
Feliz, at the time belonging to the municipality of Carangola. The
police reported the fact to the command of the battalion, which sent
only one small troop, who went to the scene and arrested them.
Several wounded in Guerrilla were reportedly taken to the Casa de
Charidade hospital in Carangola.
Location
It is located on
the border of the states of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo, and
79.4% of its area is within the state of Espírito Santo. Its
coordinates are between 20º19 'and 20º 37' S latitude and between
41º43 'and 41º53' O longitude.
The region of the park is
located 300 km from the state capital of Vitória, with access
through the locality of Pedra Menina in Dores do Rio Preto, and 340
km from the mining capital Belo Horizonte, with access through the
municipality of Alto Caparaó.
Counties
Caparaó National
Park covers five municipalities on the Capixaba side of the Park and
four on the mining side. The municipalities of Espírito Santo are:
Jerônimo Monteiro, Iuna, Ibatiba, Ibitirama (where is the Pico da
Bandeira), Irupi, Pains of Rio Preto, Divine of St. Lawrence, Guaçuí
and Alegre; while the municipalities of Minas Gerais are: Alto
Caparaó, Caparaó, Alto Jequitibá and Espera Feliz.
Altitude
The average elevation is 997 meters at its lowest level, reaching
2,891 meters at Pico da Bandeira, which is the third largest gap in
Brazil.
Climate
The climate of the park region is tropical
in altitude, Cwb variation and has mild temperatures, with annual
averages between 19 ° C and 22 ° C, but this mountainous region has
lower average annual temperatures in areas of higher altitude.
The ridges of the parks are very cold places, being some of the
coldest points of Brazil, in them the temperature can vary from 25 °
C to -10 ° C, and in winter, the peaks register frosts and
temperatures of -4 ° C daily, but there is a park guide who claims
to have recorded the temperature of -14 ° C at Pico da Bandeira (not
considered an official marking). At the foot of Pico do Cristal
there is a lake where it is registered at least one day a year with
ice cover on site.
Hits
The park attracts many tourists,
especially during winter holidays. Tourists come mainly in search of
the cold weather, and to reach the summit of Pico da Bandeira
because of its well-known sunrise view on the summit of Pico do
Cristal. There are also those who come in search of tranquility.
The municipalities have untouched landscapes, both on the mining
side, as on the capixaba side.
Its main accesses are the
Pedra Branca Portal in the municipality of Dores do Rio Preto (ES)
through which Casa Queimada is reached, beginning of the trail via
Caparaó-Capixaba to Pico da Bandeira, and the Alto Caparaó Portal in
the municipality of Alto Caparaó ( MG) with road to the lookout of
the camp Tronqueira, origin of the trail through the mining slope to
the referred flag.
Inside the parks
The park has areas for
environmental education, camping, climbing to Pico da Bandeira,
visitation, studies and research. Not the entire park is open to the
public, as there is recovery of degraded areas and areas intended
for wildlife. The park is an interesting visitation point, with
beautiful views from many points.