Campos do Jordão State Park, State park in Campos do Jordão, São Paulo, Brazil
Campos do Jordão State Park is a 8,341-hectare protected area in the Mantiqueira mountains, occupying a third of the municipality of Campos do Jordão on the border with Minas Gerais. Its terrain ranges from 1,030 to 2,007 metres and holds Atlantic Forest remnants of Araucaria and Podocarpus, cloud forest and high-altitude grasslands. A 12-metre wooden tower provides a panoramic view.
This protected area was established in 1941 as São Paulo's first conservation site. In its early decades, non-native conifer trees were planted extensively, altering the natural ecosystem structure.
The name comes from the open grasslands that form above the tree line in this high mountain setting. Visitors encounter local crafts in the visitor center and learn how the regional communities connect with these elevated landscapes.
Five self-guided trails range from the 1,000-metre Four Bridges path to the 8,500-metre Celestina trail, which reaches 1,905 metres and requires a monitor. The Sapucaí River trail passes century-old araucarias. A 12-metre wooden tower gives a panoramic view.
The park holds the largest contiguous tract of pine forest in southeast Brazil, covering about 2,000 hectares planted mainly with Pinus elliottii and Pinus taeda. These exotic stands are being removed through sustainable forest management so native Araucaria and cloud forest can regenerate.
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