Qualla: Três Picos State Park

Três Picos State Park: Introduction

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Bernardo Amaral, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Three Peaks rise to 2,316 meters. Climbers have mapped more than 100 routes up them, of wildly varying difficulty - some a scramble, some requiring ropes and bolts and several days. The peaks anchor the center of the Serra do Mar, the coastal range that runs the length of southeastern Brazil, and they give this state park its name. Três Picos, the largest state park in Rio de Janeiro, protects 65,000 hectares of what the rainforest of this coast used to be everywhere.

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Image: Bernardo Amaral | CC BY-SA 3.0

Três Picos State Park: The Richest Biodiversity in the State

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Titaflash, CC BY-SA 3.0. Altitude creates abundance here. The park ranges from 100 meters above sea level to 2,316 at the highest peak - a vertical climb through half a dozen ecological zones. Dense sub-montane rainforest covers the lower slopes. Cloud forest wraps the middle elevations in permanent mist...

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Image: Titaflash | CC BY-SA 3.0

Três Picos State Park: A Park Five Municipalities Share

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Brandaogu at Portuguese Wikipedia, Public domain. The boundaries cross five municipalities. Cachoeiras de Macacu holds the largest share - about 48.92% at creation, and roughly two-thirds by 2016 after boundary adjustments. Teresópolis contains 20.08%. Nova Friburgo contributes 19.26%, Silva Jardim 7.53%, Guapimirim 4.21%. The d...

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Image: Brandaogu at Portuguese Wikipedia | Public domain

Três Picos State Park: Created in 2002, Grown Since

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Rafael Rabello de Barros, CC BY-SA 3.0. State decree 31.343, signed on 5 June 2002, created Três Picos at 46,350 hectares. The objectives were clear: preserve the remnants of Atlantic Forest in this section of the Serra do Mar; recover degraded areas; protect rare, endemic, and endangered species; connect with the cent...

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Image: Rafael Rabello de Barros | CC BY-SA 3.0

Três Picos State Park: The Three Peaks

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Fulviusbsas, CC BY-SA 3.0. The peaks themselves sit in Nova Friburgo municipality, their granite faces weathered from millions of years of exposure. Climbers come from across Brazil and abroad to work the routes. Some ascents require bivouac on narrow ledges, hundreds of meters above the cloud forest canop...

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Image: Fulviusbsas | CC BY-SA 3.0

Três Picos State Park: A Forest That Still Rains

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Claus Bunks aka Afrobrasil on flickr, Public domain. The Atlantic Forest once covered Brazil's entire coastal strip, from Rio Grande do Norte in the north to Rio Grande do Sul in the south. Less than 15% remains today, fragmented and isolated. Três Picos holds one of the largest continuous patches left. The forest here still does w...

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Image: Claus Bunks aka Afrobrasil on flickr | Public domain

Três Picos State Park: Visible From the Sky

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jorge Antonio de Oliveira Vicente, CC BY-SA 3.0. From altitude the park reads as a dark irregular shape draped across the central Serra do Mar, the three peaks marking its high ground and the surrounding cloud forest darkening the slopes below. The Baía de Guanabara glitters to the south; the Paraíba do Sul valley opens inland ...

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Image: Jorge Antonio de Oliveira Vicente | CC BY-SA 3.0