TIJUCA NATIONAL PARK

Description

Essentials about Tijuca National Park in brief

With Tijuca National Park, Rio de Janeiro has something quite unique in the world, namely the largest inner-city national park in the world. The national park, just under 40 square meters in size, belongs entirely to the urban area of the Brazilian metropolis and is one of the most important sights of Rio de Janeiro with its spectacular viewpoints, its multifaceted vegetation and its idyllic hiking trails.

The history of Tijuca National Park

Tijuca National Park was founded in 1961. Until the middle of the 18th century, much forest area in the area of today’s national park was destroyed for the establishment of coffee plantations. However, in 1861 the Brazilian emperor Dom Pedro II gave the order to reforest the area behind the Botanical Garden, but also with foreign trees. A few years later, the emperor also had a network of paths and lookout points built (Vista Chinesa, Mesa do Imperador and Dona Marta), from which some of the best panoramic views of Rio can still be enjoyed today.

The Corcovado in Tijuca National Park

The most famous elevation within Tijuca National Park is Corcovado Mountain (The hunchback), which gained worldwide fame as the site of the Cristo Redentor statue (Christ the Redeemer). From the observation deck at the top of Corcovado and at the feet of Jesus Christ, there is a breathtaking view of downtown Rio, Sugarloaf Mountain, and the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema.

Hiking in Tijuca National Park

But not only the Corcovado is worth a visit, also the Pedra da Gávea (with 842 meters height the world’s largest single granite block near the sea) and the Pico da Tijuca (with 1,022 meters height the highest mountain in the national park) are worth an ascent for experienced hikers. If that is too sweaty for you, you can also just enjoy the beautiful vegetation of the national park on one of the signposted hiking trails, which, in addition to the original Brazilian rainforest, also consists of artificially planted mango, coffee and breadfruit trees. One of the attractions of Tijuca National Park is also the many waterfalls. By the way, the 40 meters high Cascatinha do Tauney is the highest waterfall in Rio.

Wildlife of Tijuca National Park

In the dense vegetation of Tijuca National Park, a variety of animals feel at home. Amateur ornithologists will be able to discover and observe several hundred species of birds here. In addition, there are countless insects, snakes, lizards and also larger animals such as capuchin monkeys, forest dogs, coatis and armadillos. However, most of them are rather shy and come accordingly rather rarely in front of the lens.