Itaimbezinho Canyon

The Itaimbezinho Canyon is located in the Aparados Da Serra National Park on the border of Rio Grande Do Sul and the state of Santa Catarina.

The nearest town, if you go from Gramado, is Cambará do Sul and it is not the only canyon in the area, so when you arrive in Cambará you will encounter the legend “land of canyons”.

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Cambará do Sul

Cambará do Sul is located in Rio Grande do Sul and is a good place to stay and use as a starting point to visit the Aparados da Serra and Da Serra Geral national parks with their canyons. Although we chose the option of making the journey from Gramado and returning to it, it is also true that you do not have enough time to do more than one activity if you wanted to.

The canyon has an extension of almost 6 kilometers, with a maximum width of 2 kilometers and an approximate height of 700 meters, being crossed by the Perdices stream. In addition to this, as we said, there are other canyons in the area, such as the Fortaleza Canyon, located in the Serra Geral National Park, in Santa Catarina.

The distance from Gramado to Cambará do Sul is about 110 kilometers and the road to Cambará is in perfect condition, and it is also a very enjoyable journey, passing through Sao Francisco de Paula. But I emphasize: up to Cambará, because the entrance to the 19-kilometer canyon is still as impassable as I had seen it on my last visit, and that was at least 12 years ago.

So, based on what I’ve said, I wouldn’t risk the car if it’s very low, in our case it’s a van, but in any case you’re going to suffer the whole trip, so doing it on a tour seems like a good option if you don’t want to worry about the vehicle.

►Book your tour to the Itaimbezinho Canyon

The excursions depart from both Gramado and Canela depending on whether you are staying.

Once you arrive at Aparados da Serra Park, you pay the entrance fee and parking, the cost of the latter is R$ 11 and the entrance that allows you to enter the Itaimbezinho Canyon (and the Fortress in Serra Geral Park) is R$ 94, and then you leave the car in the parking lot. Not at that time but now you can book them online. For other questions visit this website of Aparados da Serra National Park

Pets are not allowed in the park. The park is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is closed on Mondays.

Senderos

There are two trails to enjoy, a short one, Trilha do Vértice, which takes an estimated hour and a half to complete. And a long one, Trilha do Cotovelo, which takes 3 hours to complete. Both are highly recommended, so try to do both.

These two trails at the top of the canyon are very easy to do and do not require a guide. There is the possibility of doing the route along the river, Trilha do Río do Boy, at the bottom of the canyon, the estimated time is about 7 hours, in this case it is mandatory to go with a guide and if you are accompanied by children they must be over 12 years old.

There is an interpretation centre which is worth seeing first if you want to gather some information.

We chose to do the long trail first. The trail takes you between the Araucaria and other vegetation, the journey is 6 kilometers round trip.

The Aparados da Serra and Serra Geral National Parks are conservation units that have numerous attractions: biomes, hydrography, vegetation, fauna, but the geological formations and the unique relief stand out. Together, these two parks cover more than 30,000 hectares and extend across the states of Rio Grande do Sul (upper part of the plateau) and Santa Catarina.

Currently, there are three visiting areas: Itaimbezinho, Fortaleza and Rio do Boi.

As we were saying, we chose this canyon for the visit, but the Fortaleza is also worth the visit and is just as beautiful, or even more so. There are others like the Malacara, but I don’t know it, so I can’t give you an opinion on it.

We go back to Gramado, have you seen the post on what to do in Gramado and Canela?

If you arrive by car, don’t miss the Romantic Route to Gramado