Jalapao State Park – quick travel guide

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Big state park in Brazil’s interior countryside, full of many beautiful natural attractions and activities.

Jalapao is a huge park with at least 50 activities, some more popular than others. So your experience varies depending on how many days you stay, without or without a tour guide, and of course which attractions you pick.

I’d recommend a minimum of at least 4 days (3 nights) to get enough variety. This makes sense since getting there already takes so much time, and then traveling between different parts also takes lots of drive time.

I had local friends who knew it well and took me around, and I loved that the most since we spent as long as we wanted and never felt rushed. I’m sure other people going with a professional tour probably enjoyed it as well but didn’t have the freedom and flexibility we did. Flexibility is absolutely key if you have time, and/or want to alternate plans based on how you feel (e. g. wanting more X and less Y), or based on the weather.

Questions about Jalapao:

  • What is Jalapao?
    • A big state park with many nature activities. There are also many little towns inside, with stores, restaurants, accommodations. You can think of Jalapao like a really big nature theme park.
  • What activities are available at Jalapao?
    • Landscape views, hikes, waterfalls, river-rafting, snorkeling, ziplines, natural pools, canyons, etc.
    • Some are paid, some are free.
    • Yes, there’s a wide range of wildlife. I saw mostly just birds, maybe some monkeys, and some deer.
  • What type of accommodations are available at Jalapao?
    • Full range of hotels, pousadas (guesthouses), and maybe hostels.
  • How do you get to Jalapao?
    • Nearest airport is Palmas (PMW).
    • To get around places within Jalapao…you’ll need a 4×4 vehicle. So you’ll have to rent it or be part of a tour.
  • What is the best season for Jalapao?
    • It’s beautiful and has unique things to see in every season.
  • Things to watch out for?
    • Many signs have directions crossed out to confuse tourists. It’s done by local guides since they want you to go with them and pay them. So be careful when trying to following the driving signs on your own.
    • Bring insect repellant for the mosquitos.

Where to stay:

Look at the map and decide what you want to do. Then choose accommodations by there. Just about all accommodations will provide dinner and breakfast.

Below is just a list of places we stayed, and what we did.

  • Ponte Alto
    • Aguas do Jalapao** – nice place! Big, beautiful, relaxing, good food. Nice pool setup.
    • Lagoa da Japonesa* – awesome lagoon with incredible turquoise colors. A great morning or afternoon stop for 2 hours. Swim around, check out the caves, take beautiful photos. WIFI coverage all over.
    • Pedra Furada – a nice big red-striped canyon rock with nearly 360-degree panoramic views of the surrounding forest. An easy 30-min stop. Many people try to be here at sunset.
    • Canion Sussuapara – nice little canyon with hanging tree roots and moss covered walls. More like a 15-min photo stop than an actual place to hang out. I didn’t find it particularly interesting but it’s also not a hard stop to make. Look up photos online and decide if you’re like to see it.
  • Mateiros
    • Pousada Aconchego do Jalapao – not my favorite accommodation of all Jalapao stops but it was fine for a one-night stay. (NOTE: this is the only one that did not provide dinner.)
    • Dunas do Jalapao** – definitely a must-see and major highlight of Jalapao for me. Big giant orange sand dune with 360-degree panoramic of all the nature around you. Green jungles, orange sand and river, mountains and canyons in the distance. Absolutely magical and unique landscape view. So worth it! (This would also be a great sunset place.)
    • Mama-Cadela (restaurant) – super delicious. Try their most popular dish…called something like “camarao do cocobongo”.
  • Sao Felix
    • Pousada & Fervedouro Bela Vista – really nice newly-built place. Rooms are built like separate houses with lots of privacy and parking space right outside your unit. Modern design. Big, beautiful, has pool and fervedouro right on the property, good food.
    • Fervedouros – no trip to Jalapao is complete without seeing these beautiful natural swimming holes with fine sinking sand beneath your feet. You should check out a couple. Each are designed a little differently and look a little different, also different sizes and amounts of people. Different sizes as well. I did see monkey around at one (so be careful of your stuff being stolen).

Activities to do:

There are tons and tons of activities to choose from. I can only recommend from what we did based on the areas we visited. I think that’s a better breakdown than to go by category. Look at a Jalapao tourist map and (research) decide what you want to see, which then determines where you have to stay.

  • Viewpoints, landmarks, sunsets, hikes:
  • Buildings & architecture:
  • Parks, gardens, green spaces:
  • Beaches, bridges, water-points:
  • Arts, museums, culture:
  • Markets, shopping:
  • Tours:

Miscellaneous tips:

Itinerary:

  • DAY 1 –

Nearby towns:

Unfiltered notes:

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