Monumento Natural Estadual da Pedra Grande, Natural monument in Atibaia, Brazil

The Monumento Natural Estadual da Pedra Grande is a 3,297-hectare full-protection reserve in the Serra do Itapetinga, shared by Atibaia, Bom Jesus dos Perdões, Mairiporã and Nazaré Paulista. Its centrepiece is the Pedra Grande massif, a granite dome reaching 1,418 m, about 650 m above the surrounding land, with a summit surface of some 200,000 m². Pale grey rock, streaked and fissured, rises above wooded slopes.

The Serra de Atibaia, including the Pedra Grande dome, was listed by CONDEPHAAT on 6 July 1983 and entered in the archaeological, ethnographic and landscape register in 1986. On 30 March 2010, Decree 55,662 created the 3,297.01-hectare state natural monument, one of four conservation units in the Cantareira continuum.

The massif is also called Pedra Grande de Atibaia, and its open rock plateau serves as a natural hang-gliding ramp. Practitioners of radiesthesia and crystal therapy treat the quartz-rich rock as a sanctuary with healing energy. On new-moon nights, stargazers gather here to watch stars and meteor showers.

The area is freely accessible during daytime hours and offers multiple trails suited to different fitness levels. Visitors should bring sturdy footwear and plenty of water, especially when exploring higher sections.

Geologist John Simon Molyneux concluded that the rock began forming about 600 million years ago, some 30 km below sea level, and surfaced around 65 million years ago. Its composition is roughly 40% microcline and 35% quartz, with smaller shares of apatite, zircon, epidote, carbonate and sericite. The massif rises 650 m above the surrounding land, 250 m more than Sugarloaf Mountain.