São Paulo, with 11,000,000 million people, more than 240,000 shops, 90 museums, and several other metropolitan attractions, surprises everyone with one of the largest urban forest in the world: Serra da Cantareira. According to Unesco, this forest is a biosphere reserve of the city. Ten kilometers far from downtown, Serra da Cantareira Park covers an area equal to 8,000 football fields of Mata Atlântica forest.

Visitors will be able to see natural attractions, like the only pine tree specie native from Brazil, giant brackens and more than 200 types of animal and also learn about the history of the area. The name ‘Cantareira’ was adopted due to the large number of ‘tropeiros’ in the XVI to XVII centuries who used to keep their water jugs in a furniture piece called ‘cantareira’ (a dish rack). In the end of XIX century, a pump had been built to help water supply to São Paulo; today it is one of the historic items in the park. Water is still one of the most important points in the park, as some tracks cross rivers and falls.

The area is divided in centers, four of them are open for visit: Pedra Grande, Engordador , Águas Claras and Cabuçu. Pedra Grande was the first to be opened to public and today is one of the most recommended centers for a common visitor. Its infrastructure has also an amphitheater,  and five easy tracks: Trilha Pedra Grande (9.6 Km), da Bica (1.5 Km), do Bugio (500 m) and das Figueiras (1 Km). During tracks, you may watch some animals, especially, monkeys, in the middle of this breathtaking landscape. Other excellent attractions are Lago das Carpas (Carp Lake, with playground, and Mirante da Pedra Grande, a 1,010 meter high belvedere, where you can view Serra do Mar.

The second center to be opened to public was Engordador,  whose name comes from ‘tropeiros’ traveling from Minas Gerais and Goiás and used to stop in the area to give a break to recover their cattle to be traded in a fair in Luz region. This center has the following tracks: Cachoeira (3 Km), Macuco (650 m), Cachoeira (3.4 Km) and Mountain Bike (4 Km). And also Visitor’s Center, where you can see apes, lizards and several birds, a vivarium and Engordador reservoir.

Águas Claras center is also open to visitors, with the following tracks: Samambaia-Açu (1.5 Km), das Águas (500 m) and da Suçuarana (1.9 Km), connection to Pedra Grande center. The latest center is Cabuçu, with four tracks: Jaguatirica (1 Km), Tapiti (250 m), Sagüi (730 m), Cachoeira (5.2 Km).

Important information:

It is forbidden:
- Any activity using fire;
- Pets;
- Ball, skates and rollers;
- Bicycles are allowed only in mountain bike track in Núcleo Engordador; helmet is mandatory;
- Motor vehicles;
- Hi-fi sets / sound instruments;
- Flying a kite;
- Swimming in reservoirs and lakes.

Service:
Serra da Cantareira Park
Rua do Horto, 799 - Horto Florestal – Northern Region
Phone: (5511) 2203-3266
Time: Tuesday to Friday, 08:00 am to 05:00 pm. Then only weekends and holidays
Price: R$ 2