Canyon rim
Basalt cliffs.
Gustavomk — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rodrigo Kaspary — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Leandro Wieczorek — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sandrosevm — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Laviniagf — CC BY-SA 3.0
Serra Geral National Park protects 17,302 hectares on the edge of southern Brazil's plateau, where the land breaks off suddenly in towering cliffs down to the coastal plain. It was created on 21 May 1992 and spans Cambará do Sul in Rio Grande do Sul and Jacinto Machado and Praia Grande in Santa Catarina, in two sections next to Aparados da Serra National Park, home of the Itaimbezinho canyon. The park's star is the «Fortaleza» canyon, one of the region's largest, its basalt walls dropping hundreds of metres; on clear days the Atlantic shows on the horizon, while on others cloud fills it like a white sea. Nature shifts from plateau grassland, peat bogs and cloud forest down to rainforest below, with plants, frogs and birds found nowhere else. Access is from Cambará do Sul on a dirt road, and visits are organised with an entry fee run by the canyon parks' operator, so check prices and times in advance. It makes a full day from Gramado, best on a clear day, with warm clothes, since temperatures can approach freezing in winter.
Basalt cliffs.
On misty days.
On clear days.
Cambará do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul (access towards the Fortaleza canyon)
They are neighbouring parks: Aparados da Serra holds the Itaimbezinho canyon, and Serra Geral holds the Fortaleza canyon.