Pico Pedra Azul, Mountain in Espírito Santo, Brazil.
Pico Pedra Azul is a gneiss outcrop rising to 1,822 metres in the municipality of Domingos Martins, Espírito Santo, in the Aracê district. It stands beside Pico das Flores, which reaches 1,909 metres, and both belong to the Pedra Azul State Park. The rock face takes on blue, green or yellow tones through the lichens growing on it.
The mountain lies within the Parque Estadual da Pedra Azul, a conservation unit in the Atlantic Forest biome covering campos rupestres and high-altitude ombrophilous forest above 1,500 m. The sources do not record a founding date for the park, so its creation year should not be stated. The peak stands beside the 1,909 m Pedra das Flores; both belong to the so-called relevo de pontão, or Sugarloaf-type landforms.
The name Pedra Azul, "blue stone", comes from the grey-blue colour the gneiss takes on. The peak is one of Espírito Santo's main postcard images, drawing many visitors from Vitória, and the cool highland climate is often cited as among the world's third best by the UN. Beside it stands Pedra das Flores, at 1,909 m.
Access to the park is via BR-262 at km 89, then 2 km along the Rota do Lagarto (ES-010) to the entrance; a second route comes from ES-164 through São Paulo de Aracê, with 5 km on the Rota do Lagarto. The park has a visitor centre with toilets, drinking fountains and collections of local fauna and flora, and easy trails. There is no camping or snack bar inside; hotels, restaurants and cafés are nearby.
The colour change comes from lichens growing on the gneiss, not from the rock itself. Depending on sunlight, the stone takes on blue, green or even yellow tones, and sources report it shifting colour dozens of times a day. The peak stands beside Pico das Flores, which at 1,909 m is the higher of the two.
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