Alto Ribeira State Touristic Park Voyage Tips and guide

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The Alto Ribeira Touristic State Park (Parque Estadual Turístico do Alto Ribeiro - PETAR) is a state park in São Paulo state, Brazil. It is a prime destination for cave exploring, containing the Gruta da Casa da Pedra cave, with the largest cave mouth in the world.

The park has one of the largest concentrations of caverns on the planet—more than 4,300—in a region of untouched Atlantic forest covering mountains and ridges. This natural heritage site is made up of palaeontological, archaeological, and historical sites, not to mention the extreme biodiversity and speleological richness to be found in the region.

The high precipitation index, coupled with its action on the limestone, is responsible for the formation of the caverns and their endless stalactites (growing with gravity), stalagmites (growing against gravity), columns (from ceiling to floor), and curtains. The caverns include both horizontal ones (grottoes) and vertical ones (pits or shafts).

PETAR, in conjunction with the state parks of Jacutinga, Intervales, and Carlos Botelho, and the Xitué Ecological Station, forms a large, contiguous area of Atlantic Forest with more than 200,000 hectares and an immense variety of species. The whole region has be designated a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO.

Due to its area—almost 36,000 hectares or 140 square miles—and to increase security and better support visitors, public access is limited to areas concentrated around four different nuclei, or cores:

Being so far from each other, in some cases, it is recommended to you choose your stay looking into the cores.

Prior to the arrival of the Portuguese in the 16th century, the Atlantic Rainforest surrounded most of the Brazilian coast, but it has now been mostly decimated with the exception of a few pockets which now compose the Atlantic Rainforest South-East Reserves, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Ribeira Valley, between the states of São Paulo and Paraná, contain most of the remaining primary rainforest. The Alto Ribeira Touristic State Park (PETAR) was created in 1958.

The park is spread across the Serra da Boa Vista range, part of the Serra de Paranapiacaba. Besides the exuberant rainforest covering this mountainous terrain, the most distinguishing features of PETAR are its vast limestone caves, numbering over 400. Of those, only twelve are open to the public, and even within those twelve there are restricted areas that are strictly enforced. The park also contains twenty waterfalls and the towns of Iporanga and Apiaí.

The landscape is covered with virgin Atlantic Forest. Araucária, Brazilwood and palm trees extend as far as the eye can see in a lush, verdant paradise also decorated with rare orchids and bromeliads. There are also many ficus trees, whose roots can reach many meters into the earth; the larger specimens can reach 40 m (130 ft) in height.

The larger mammals which live in this habitat include the red brocket (a type of small deer), the tayra (a type of weasel), jaguars, otters, Southern muriqui (a type of wooly spider monkey), robust capuchin and howler monkeys. Notable bird species include the harpy eagle, vinaceous-breasted amazon (a type of parrot), and the black-fronted piping and dusky-legged guans.

Located in a subtropical biome, the park is hot and wet, especially during the summer (December–March), when it receives most of its precipitation along with the greatest numbers of Brazilian tourists. In contrast, the "dry" months from April to November are hardly cold, with daytime temperatures still averaging 18 °C, or 64 °F.

24°26′1″S 48°34′47″W

Map of Alto Ribeira State Touristic Park

All visitor centres are only accessible by car. Two—Núcleo Santana and Ouro Grosso—are located on SP-165 between Iporanga and Apiaí. Núcleo Caboclos is served by SP-250, between Apiaí and Guapiara. For those coming from São Paulo, it is better to first take the BR-116 (Régis Bittencourt) to SP-193 at Jacupiranga and continue towards Eldorado to reach SP-165 and complete the journey. Those coming from Iguape or Ilha Comprida can reach Jacupiranga via SP-222, passing through Paiquera-Açu.

Those without their own means of transport often choose to use a tour agency, such as:

• -24.58625-48.594741 Ipotur, Ave Iporanga 105 - Centro, Iporanga, ☏ +55 11 98515737, +55 13 96076579, [email protected]. (updated Oct 2024)
• -24.58416-48.596842 Núcleo Terra, Rua João Evilásio Nunes 160, Alto do Coqueiro, Iporanga, ☏ +55 15 3556-1125, +55 11 3628-2758, [email protected]. (updated Oct 2024)

• As of 2020, the ticket prices to enter PETAR are: (conversions to USD were made on 23 February 2023)
  • General admission: 32 BRL, or $6.21
  • Mercosul ticket (-25%): 24 BRL, or $4.66
  • Citizen (Brazilian) ticket (-50%, -75% for students): 16 BRL, or $3.11
  • Annual pass, good for ten visits (-30%): 112 BRL, or $21.74

It is mandatory for visitors to have an accredited guide with them upon entry to the Park, and one guide can be responsible for a group of up to eight people. The price for a guide is not fixed, they are free to set their own rate (usually influenced by the number of guides working and visitors arriving), but a reasonable expectation of the cost is around 200 BRL per person, per day (as of February 2020 at the Santana core). A helmet, flashlight and closed shoes are mandatory inside the caves, and some also require a long-sleeved shirt and thick pants.

If you are seeking access to any of the restricted areas in the caves, you must contact the park's main office at:

• -24.50523-48.847873 PETAR Public Use Team (Equipe Uso Público PETAR), Ave Isidoro Alpheu Santiago 364, Fepasa, Apiaí, ☏ +55 15 3552-1875, [email protected]. M–F 7AM–5PM. (updated Oct 2024)

• Trails: The Park has several trails going through caves, waterfalls, rivers…the most visited of which is the 3.6 km (2.2 mi) Betari Trail, having a lot of attractions on the way.
• "Boia-Cross": Imagine a hafting without paddles, normally using a buoy as the boat; this activity happens at the Betari River and normally in groups, one person per buoy over 2 km (1.2 mi).

There are no places inside the Park to buy a meal, but is allowed and encouraged for visitors to pack their own food in to be eaten while there. Outside the park there are not many options, either, but some lodging offers dinner, and at the two city centers that support the Park, there are some limited options.

Look the articles for the individual cores (linked at their pictures in the § Cores section) to have a proper overnight stay; be mindful of the distances between the cores as it's not uncommon for lodging to be convenient to one core but 60 km (37 mi) from the others.

• Remember to respect and follow your guide: they are there to not only keep you safe, but also to preserve the Park.
• Bring extra batteries for your flashlights and waterproof protection for your equipment.
• Do not forget to bring drinking water and light clothes that can dry fast after getting damp/wet, and avoid slippery shoes.
• In summer the snakes are more active, so mind your surroundings and don't sit anywhere without first carefully examining it; do not venture off into the forest without your guide.
• The roads can be dangerous when it's rainy, and there are areas prone to sudden mudslides, so be aware.

• Parque Estadual de Jacupiranga
• Parque Estadual Intervale