Pico do Itacolomi - Tourist Attractions, History and Trails

Pico do Itacolomi in Pico do Itacolomi State Park (“stone-child” in Tupi-Guarani), with its 1772 metres, was the point of reference for bandeirantes searching for gold in the Minas Gerais hills at the end of the 15th century.

It was in the streams that cut through its surroundings that gold was finally discovered; it was at its feet that Antônio Dias founded the future Vila Rica on 24 June 1698.

Transformed into a state park in 1967, the Itacolomi mountain range, part of the Espinhaço mountain range, today covers 7543 hectares, belonging to Ouro Preto and Mariana.

The great attraction of the walk is the combination of nature and history.

The park is well organised and has paid parking at the gate and Visitor Centre; it also offers good support services, with vans, monitors, toilets and a snack bar.

Situated in an area of transition from the Atlantic Forest to the Cerrado, the park’s lower regions are home to large trees – perobas, canelas, baraúnas, jatobás and quaresmeiras; in the higher parts, the altitude fields predominate, with begonias, bromeliads, canelas-de-ema, evergreens and orchids, one of which is endemic, the Habenaria itaculumínia.

The animals include anteaters, coatis and otters. Moorish cats and armadillos, as well as birds such as the green grackle hummingbird and the peacock.

More risky and difficult to spot are the jaguars, brown and painted, and the sauá monkeys.

The attractions are divided into historical and cultural, trails and expeditions.

Conheça o Parque Estadual do Itacolomi

Pico do Itacolomi State Park

1. History

Much of the responsibility for the exploration of the region of Ouro Preto was due to the presence of a natural symbol that guided the bandeirantes of the 17th century: Pico do Itacolomi, the “Pedra- Menino”.

At one of the points in the park, on the route through which the gold production flowed, a commercial and tax office was built to collect the quinto, the tax levied on the exploitation of minerals in Minas Gerais, as soon as settlement began in the region, around 1706.

This post was also useful as a form of surveillance and defence of access to the mines. It is considered one of the first public buildings in the state.

The site was also the setting for naturalist travellers of the 18th and 19th centuries, such as Spix and Von Martius, where they carried out important studies and research.

With the decline of gold mining in the region in the mid-18th century, the area was taken over for agriculture, with tea plantations.

The area was auctioned off in 1772 by Sergeant Major Manoel Manso da Costa Reis, and was known at the time as Fazenda da Vargem da Olaria.

In 1871 the property was mortgaged and in 1909 it passed into the hands of the Soares brothers. On a date that is not yet precise, it was sold to Francisco Diogo de Vasconcelos.

The then Fazenda do Manso, which occupied what is now Itacolomi Park, was one of the two most important tea producers in Ouro Preto – which had seven other companies producing the herb.

The production of Edelweiss Tea flourished from the early 1930s and persisted until the end of the 50s.

In 1946, there were 1.8 million tea trees on Fazenda São José do Manso.

The owner of the farm at the time was José Salles Andrade, who imported the seeds from India and the machinery from Germany.

The tea was named Edelweiss in honour of the farmer’s wife.

In 1974, Fazenda São José do Manso was sold to historian Tarquínio José Barbosa de Oliveira, who tried to restart the production of black tea.

When he took over the farm, the historian found the plantation area overrun by weeds. He cleared everything and restarted production, but he didn’t have the same success as Edelweiss Tea;

2. Geomorphological aspects

The region has great appeal for its geomorphology, which stands out in the landscape not only because of the imposing mountain range – the southern portion of the Serra do Espinhaço – but also because of its natural monument, Pico do Itacolomi, which is one of the symbols of Ouro Preto’s occupation and history.

The Serra do Itacolomi is one of the isolated branches of the Serra do Espinhaço, which crosses Minas Gerais from south to north.

The rock composition of the park is mainly made up of quartzites, phyllites, granites and sandstones.

The rocky outcrops in the altitude fields and sloping plateaus, such as Serra do Trovão, Lavras Novas, Cibrão and Pico do Itacolomi, stand out.

This geomorphological diversity in the park is characterised by the variation in altitude, which ranges from 700m to 1772m – the summit of the peak.

3. Vegetation cover

The park’s vegetation is made up of an area of transition between two different biomes, being situated in the far west of the Atlantic Rainforest domains and in the east of the Cerrado.

This diversity is easily seen on the trails offered to visitors to the park, even though approximately 60 per cent of the entire terrain is made up of Altitude Fields.

Its vegetation is also made up of Semideciduous Seasonal Forest and Gallery Forest.

A tree of great scenic beauty found in the park is the quaresmeira, found mainly along the watercourses that cross the region.

In the higher parts of the park, there are grasses and lianas, an important example of which is the canela-de-ema. There are also fields of candeia trees throughout the region.

But the highlight – which also causes concern due to biopiracy – are the exotic bromeliads and orchids, plants that attract the interest of visitors who often end up taking them out of the park.

4. Fauna

An IEF survey found that there are around 400 different species of animal in the Itacolomi Park area, giving the region a great diversity of fauna.

A large number of these species are threatened in the area where the park is located, due to frequent fires, especially in the winter months, a time of drought and intense winds.

Among the threatened species in the region are the maned wolf, the brown jaguar, the sauá monkey, the peafowl and the giant anteater.

5. Hydrography

The basin in which the Itacolomi State Park is located is that of the Gualaxo do Sul, a river that is one of the tributaries of the Rio do Carmo.

Other watercourses that cross the park are: Rio Mainart, Ribeirão Belchior, Córrego dos Prazeres, Córrego Domingas and Córrego do Manso.

All of these are part of the hydrographic network that makes up the Rio Doce Basin, one of the main and most important in the state.

6. Climate

The region’s climate is similar to that of the city of Ouro Preto: a typical high-altitude climate, relatively humid with fog and prevailing south-westerly winds.

Rainfall is abundant in summer, mainly between November and March.

In winter the landscape becomes drier, and due to the lack of rain and wind there is a high risk of fires.

The temperature throughout the year varies from 4ºC to 33ºC, with an average of 21 degrees centigrade.

7. Historical Aspects – Occupation of the Region

The exploration of the region was part of the work of the flags that explored the interior of the continent throughout the 17th century.

Little is known about the first flag that reached the region, but it is thought to have been that of Bartolomeu Bueno da Siqueira and Antônio Rodrigues Arzão.

However, it was the Duarte Lopes flag that first found gold in the region at the end of the 17th century.

The discovery happened by chance, when one of the expedition members found dark stones in the bed of the Tripuí River which, after being taken to Rio de Janeiro for analysis, turned out to be gold of the highest carat, and its dark colour was just a thin layer of iron oxide.

Thirty years after the discovery, a new settlement in Morro de São Paulo, the future Vila Rica, had already been set up with approximately 40,000 inhabitants, and was considered the largest human agglomeration in Latin America until then.

Next to this town, on the banks of the Ribeirão do Carmo, was the Arraial de Nossa Senhora do Carmo, which later became the first city in Minas Gerais and was chosen as the seat of the Bishopric of Minas Gerais.

Gold fuelled not only the economy directly linked to it, but also the merchants who supplied the city, artisans who produced tools, objects and even art, engineers from all sectors, lawyers, clergy, doctors, etc.

Until the middle of the 18th century, gold was found in abundance, when the metal began to run out. This led to an intensification in the monitoring of gold production and the collection of taxes from miners. This pressure from the Crown culminated in the Inconfidência Mineira.

Vila Rica became the Imperial City of Ouro Preto in 1823 and remained the capital of the Province of Minas Gerais until 1897, when Belo Horizonte was inaugurated. Mariana, one of Brazil’s first planned cities, was listed as a National Historic Site in 1945.

8. Tourist Attractions

Visitor Centre
Tea Museum
Casa Bandeirista
Forno Trail
Chapel Trail
Lagoon Trail
Expeditions to Morro do Cachorro
Mirante
Custódio Basin
Itacolomi Peak

Every visit is accompanied by an environmental monitor, who provides information about each site;

9. Historical Tour

The park’s Visitor Centre occupies the drying area of the former Fazenda de São José do Manso, a major producer of black tea between the 1930s and 1950s.

The history can be learnt on guided tours of the Tea Museum, which houses the German machinery used to process the herbs.

A little further on, the visitor returns to even more remote times.

The Casa Bandeirista (Bandeirista House) was built between 1706 and 1708, according to the standards of São Paulo’s rural architecture. The first public building in Minas Gerais, it was where taxes were collected and the gold that travelled along the Estrada Real to the port was inspected.

Casa Bandeirista no Parque Estadual do Itacolomi

The building, listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1998, has typical elements such as the seteiras (a kind of very narrow window), used for the defence of the house, and compartments in the basement where weapons, ammunition and gold were deposited.

chapel of St Joseph in Itacolomi State Park

The floor preserves original sections of the ceramics produced there, covered with glass to prevent deterioration.

Also part of this historical tour is the chapel of São José, renovated in the 1990s and decorated by local artists using native raw materials.

10. Trails

The park offers four trails and three monitored mini-expeditions, which must be booked in advance.

10.1. Forno Trail

The Forno Trail is circular and about 1200 metres long.

Easy to follow, it passes through an area of Atlantic forest dotted with bromeliads and large trees, with some swampy stretches.

The name comes from the ruins of a 19th century stone oven.

10.2. Chapel Trail

The Capela Trail, also circular and easy, is about 1500 metres long and passes through an area of candeias, an endangered tree, and other typical examples of the cerrado.

There are two lagoons on the way up between the gatehouse and the Visitor Centre, the Curva lagoon and the Capela lagoon.

Anyone wishing to swim must sign a waiver.

10.3. Chapel Lagoon Trail

The Lagoa da Capela Trail goes around the lake for around 500 metres.

Easy, it’s a quiet trail that can be walked with children.

10.4. Caminho Velho da Estrada Real Trail

The Caminho Velho da Estrada Real trail, about 20 kilometres long, is the stretch of land that connects the park gate to Lavras Novas.

It can be travelled on foot or by bicycle.

11. Mini-expeditions

The Cachorro hill offers a beautiful view of the Itacolomi peak and the entire region.

It’s a 4-kilometre climb to an altitude of 1400 metres, which can be done on foot, by car or by bicycle.

A good part of the trail from the Custódio reservoir, 8 kilometres from the Visitor Centre, is on an open road with high, pleasant forest; there is a viewpoint on the way.

On the return journey, which is more strenuous, you have to climb a closed trail of medium difficulty.

The Custódio reservoir, surrounded by Atlantic forest vegetation, is formed by the Prazeres river, whose source is located inside the park; it is about 3 kilometres long and 20 metres deep.

It can also be reached from Lavras Novas, after a 6 kilometre trail. To swim in the Custódio reservoir, you need to sign a waiver.

Surrounding it are little thatched huts, great for picnics, and a camping area that has yet to be regulated.

If you’re in the mood, you can walk another 2 kilometres to the Três Pingos waterfall, a small waterfall without a well, just for refreshment.

A little further on is the beautiful and wilder Dos Namorados waterfall.

The hike to Pico do Itacolomi is 8 kilometres from Fazenda do-Manso.

The monitors do not recommend climbing to the top for safety reasons, which is why they only accompany visitors to the base of the peak. Rod. MG-356 (Rodovia dos Inconfidentes), hospital interchange, 3 km from the centre.