The Brazilian northeast is today the region that grows the most in terms of the number of long-distance trails, consolidating itself as one of the main scenarios for this segment in the country. With a total of 49 officially registered stretches, in nine states, they total more than 1,200 kilometers of mapped routes, connecting the caatinga and cerrado biomes and offering a broad support structure to visitors.
The person telling Folha the good news is Hugo de Castro, director of the Brazilian Trails Network, who highlights the importance of this expansion as a “vector of conservation, identity and regional development”.
The first structured northeastern trail to join the Network, according to Castro, was the Caminho dos Cânions do Rio São Francisco, around 2018. “But it was an isolated initiative, in Paulo Afonso, within an ICMBio conservation area”, he recalls. Since then, communities in the region have identified the potential of creating dedicated trails for walkers, cyclists and horse riders.
“Today, among the main trails in the Northeast, in addition to the Caminho dos Cânions itself, the Caminho da Ibiapaba and the Caminho das Ararunas stand out, each with its own identity, but all united by the proposal to integrate nature, culture and sustainable tourism”, he states.
The Caminho das Ararunas, in Paraíba, is 110 kilometers long and connects the municipalities of Araruna and Cuité, passing through the Pedra da Boca State Park and crossing archaeological sites, historical ruins and unique rock formations. “It is fully implemented and structured to serve visitors and is now a reference in community management and standardized signage, serving as a model for other trails in the region”, defines Castro.
The Ibiapaba Path, which unites the states of Piauí and Ceará, connecting the national parks of Sete Cidades and Ubajara, is 130 kilometers long and rescues old drover routes through a transition landscape from the caatinga to the Atlantic forest.
The pioneer Caminho dos Cânions do Rio São Francisco, according to Castro, with 60 kilometers, “stands out as one of the most emblematic experiences in the northeast”. Located in Paulo Afonso, Bahia, the trail runs through a landscape that ranges from the rocky walls along Velho Chico, which reach 100 meters in height, to land and water sections, which allow integration with riverside communities.
Strengthening these initiatives, says Castro, is part of the intention to create a larger trail from Oiapoque, in Amapá, to Barra do Chuí, in Rio Grande do Sul, crossing the country from north to south via two route options — along the coast and inland. And to publicize as much as possible not only the advantages of implementing these routes, but the importance of their demarcation, signage and safety, two events were held this year in the region.
In September, the municipality of Araruna (PB) hosted the 1st Paraibano Trails Congress, bringing together public managers, volunteers and experts in regionalization and implementation policies. And, in October, Paulo Afonso hosted the 1st Northeastern Trails Seminar, with representatives from all states in the region. For next year, a Pan-American congress is already planned to be held in Foz do Iguaçu. representatives of neighboring countries who can in an ideal future interconnect through their many trails.
And, if the Oiapoque-Chuí route is still an abstraction, Castro highlights the importance of the trails being interconnected not through official initiatives, “but through the walker, the cyclist, giving them the options to choose to build and consolidate the trails continuously”. Something along the lines of poet Antonio Machado’s famous phrase, “the path is made by walking”.
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