Serra das Araras, Mountain chain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Serra das Araras is a sector of the Serra do Mar between Piraí and Paracambi in Rio de Janeiro state. It is one of the lowest stretches of the range, rising from about 180 m in the Baixada Fluminense to 550 m at the Federal Highway Police post. The Presidente Dutra Highway splits into separate carriageways here, and a concrete barrier with rectangular openings runs along the base.

Serra das Araras is a scarp of the Fluminense plateau, one of the lowest stretches of the Serra do Mar, rising from about 180 m in the Baixada Fluminense to 550 m at the Federal Highway Police post. In 1967 heavy rain of 275 mm in three hours triggered a landslide over a 30 km diameter that buried part of the just-duplicated Via Dutra and damaged the Ribeirão das Lajes reservoir. Reports of the dead range from over 200 to about 1,700.

The name Serra das Araras likely comes from the many macaws that lived there at the start of Portuguese occupation of Rio de Janeiro state and during crossings of the range to reach the Paraíba Valley. The birds are not part of documented local folklore; the name is the main trace they left.

The Presidente Dutra Highway crosses the range with its widest lane split here: northbound at Km 229 just past the Federal Highway Police post, southbound at Km 220 in Piraí. The police post sits at a 550 m overlook at the start of the descent. State roads and railways also cross, linking the plateau with the Baixada Fluminense.

The Serra das Araras is one of the lowest sectors of the Serra do Mar, rising from about 180 metres at the edge of the Baixada Fluminense to 550 metres at the viewpoint holding the Federal Highway Police post, at the start of the descent lane. Because it is a scarp of the Fluminense plateau, drivers coming from São Paulo descend rather than climb it to reach the lowlands.