With an eye on the next opening of the mountain season and for those who like camping in forest areas but don’t want to be exposed to the risks of setting up their tent in an unprotected location, the Ibitipoca State Park has opened an area that can accommodate around 30 tents. The space is located right at the starting point of the three trails — Janela do Céu, the region’s postcard, Circuito do Pião, with caves and rock formations that mix walking techniques, and Circuito das Águas, which leads to several waterfalls, natural pools and refreshing paths in this important arm of the Mantiqueira mountain range, in Minas Gerais, which even marks the end of the long-distance Transmantiqueira trail.
Located in the municipality of Lima Duarte, with an area of 1,488 hectares, the park is managed by Parquetur, which also has concessions for the national parks of Itatiaia (which spans the states of Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and São Paulo), Chapada dos Guimarães (in Mato Grosso) and Chapada dos Veadeiros (in Goiás), in addition to the state parks of Itacolomi (also in Minas) and Caminhos do Mar (in São Paulo). Tickets for Ibitipoca can be purchased via the website.
The possibility of camping at Ibitipoca was a long-standing demand from visitors. After all, one of the greatest pleasures of sleeping in a shack is waking up to see the sun rise right in front of you, right? But it is important, when making a reservation through the park’s website, to pay attention to the entry and exit times.
Check-in for those arriving with their tent can be done from 7am to 4pm and check-out takes place until 8am the day following your reservation. In addition to the space for the tent, which gives you the right to use the bathrooms, showers, restaurant and service area, you must purchase a daily ticket to the park separately and register for the trails you intend to follow — only 1,000 visitors are allowed per day, with or without camping, with only 240 allowed to continue to Janela do Céu.
Those who do not have or prefer not to bring their own camping equipment can hire, for R$180, the package called “Camping Ready to Go Experience”, which includes an assembled tent, mattress, kit with helmet and flashlight, hiking pole and breakfast, in addition to access to the park’s official camping area. Entrance to the park and on-site parking are not included.
Although the park is open from Tuesday to Saturday, in addition to holidays, from 7am to 5pm, campers have the exclusive right to leave on Sunday until 8am. And each trail has a limited access time: at Janela do Céu, you can enter until 9am; at Pico do Pião, until 12pm; and at Circuito das Águas, until 3pm.
Although the park is well signposted and does not have a guide service, Pedro Cleto, executive director of Parquetur, highlights the importance of hiring a guide in the region. “With a hired guide, the tour will be even more constructive, with an understanding of what the Atlantic Forest biome is and the person will also be promoting the local economy”, he explains. But, at the visitor center at the entrance to the unit, he says that there are service teams “who know the park well and can provide all the necessary support, advise on routes and rules, and a little about local history.”
In addition to the camping area, Cleto says that the park has implemented another new feature, which is the exclusive internal transport of UTV-Can-AM, a type of cart with capacity for six people “which increases accessibility and offers everyone the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of the region”. With a two-hour itinerary along the Janela do Céu circuit, the route totals eight kilometers and is completed in two hours, with strategic stops at points such as O Cruzeiro, which offers a good panoramic view of the mountains, Gruta da Cruz and Pico da Lombada, the highest points in the park, at 1,784 meters above sea level.
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