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The Poti River Canyon, located on the border between the states of Piauí and Ceará, is one of the most impressive landscapes in the north-east of Brazil. This little-explored tourist destination offers visitors a combination of natural beauty, adventure and history, making it an ideal location for ecotourism and outdoor activities.

The Poti River canyon is one of the natural features of the state of Piauí, located more characteristically in the municipalities of Buriti dos Montes, Castelo do Piauí and Juazeiro do Piauí, with two access routes: one from Juazeiro do Piauí and the other from Castelo do Piauí.

Videos – Documentary and Tourist Attractions in the Poti River Canyon

Main Tourist Attractions in the Poti River Canyon

1. The Canyon: The Poti River Canyon stretches for around 180 kilometres, carved by the Poti River over millions of years. The rocky walls reach a height of 60 metres in some stretches, creating a dramatic and breathtaking scenery. The region is marked by impressive rock formations and cave paintings dating back to prehistoric times.

   

2. Kayak Tours: One of the best ways to explore the canyon is by kayaking down the Poti River. These tours allow visitors to glide between the canyon walls, enjoying the scenery and the tranquillity of the surroundings. Along the way, it is possible to stop for a swim in the river and to observe the local fauna and flora.
3. Trails and Walks: There are several trails that take visitors to strategic points with panoramic views of the canyon. The trails vary in level of difficulty, from light hikes to more challenging routes that include steep ascents and descents. Some of the trails also pass through areas with rock paintings and archaeological sites.
4. Rupestrian Paintings: On the walls of the canyon, you can find several rock paintings dating back thousands of years. These paintings are testimony to the presence of prehistoric peoples in the region and represent an important part of Piauí’s cultural heritage.
5. Mirante do Gritador: Located in the town of Pedro II, the Mirante do Gritador offers a spectacular view of the canyon and the surrounding mountains. It’s an excellent spot to enjoy the sunset and take incredible photos of the landscape.
6. Waterfalls: At certain times of the year, especially during the rainy season, the Poti River forms waterfalls along its course. One of the best known is the Cachoeira do Boi Morto, which is easily accessible and offers a great place for bathing and contemplation.

Guiding Tips

• Best Time to Visit: The best time to visit the Poti River Canyon is during the dry season, from July to December, when the river level is lower and the trails are more accessible. During the rainy season, from January to June, the river fills up, which can make it difficult to access some areas, but also reveals temporary waterfalls.
• Access: The canyon is located in a remote area, and access is generally from the towns of Buriti dos Montes, in Piauí, or Castelo do Piauí. The final stretch to the canyon may require 4×4 vehicles, especially during the rainy season.
• Local Guides: It is strongly recommended to hire local guides to explore the canyon, both to ensure safety and to make the most of the visit, with information on the geology, fauna, flora and cave paintings.
• Accommodation: The nearby towns, such as Pedro II and Castelo do Piauí, offer simple accommodation options, such as inns and small farms that welcome tourists. It is also possible to camp in some areas of the canyon, for those seeking a closer experience with nature.

Adventure Activities

As well as kayaking and hiking, the Poti River Canyon is also a destination for adventure sports such as abseiling, climbing and cycle tourism. The combination of these activities with the unique landscape of the canyon provides an unforgettable experience for nature and adrenaline lovers.

The Poti River Canyon is a destination that still retains the air of an unexplored place, perfect for those seeking an authentic experience amidst the wild and unspoilt nature of the Brazilian Northeast.

The Poti River basin, due to its geographical position and the canyon, acted as a migratory corridor between the plains of Piauí and Maranhão and the semi-arid regions of Ceará, Pernambuco and Bahia.

The thousands of rock carvings, made in low relief by chiselling, and many more rock paintings in rock shelters prove that this region was once an ancient migratory route for the first inhabitants of the Americas.

The long natural history of the Poti River Canyon, between Ceará and Piauí

About a hundred million years ago, South America and Africa, which were part of the megacontinent Pangea, split apart.

Brazil’s Northeast was the last part of this territory to be separated and almost became a separate continent. This didn’t happen, but the land underwent great strain, was deformed, faulted and fractured.

The great mark of this episode of continental separation in the north-east of Brazil was the uplift of the land in the interior of the continent: crystalline land and sedimentary were thrown upwards, raised to an altitude perhaps not much higher than that of the top of the highest reliefs today (around a thousand metres).

Since then, the relief, the natural landscapes, have evolved from the erosion of this uplifted surface, led by dry climates – that is, erosion is not very intense, as there is not enough water to ‘destroy’ the rocks.

In the western segment of the state of Ceará, in the area that today corresponds to the border with the state of Piauí, this uplift laid down sedimentary soils (the sandstones of the Parnaí Sedimentary Basin); Parnaíba Sedimentary Basin, which is very old, around 430 million years old) and crystalline terrain that is also ancient (2.2 billion years old, formed by gneisses and other metamorphic rocks) side by side (Figure 1).

As soon as this happened, the rivers, which are the greatest sculptors of the Earth’s surface, taking advantage of topographical unevenness in the uplifted surface, began to dig their valleys. Among these rivers was the old Rio Poti, which rises in the Serra dos Cariris Novos, in the municipality of Quiterianópolis, located to the south of Crateús (CE).

It drains from south to north as far as Crateús, where it flows in an east-west direction to flow into the Parnaíba River in Teresina (PI). It is approximately 570 kilometres long.

The Poti River began dissecting the sedimentary and crystalline terrain around 90 to 80 million years ago. Flowing from south to north, it encountered a geological fault (an area where rocks break) in this terrain, it fitted into the fault and then began to flow from east to west.

The great surprise that nature gave the Poti River was this: it quickly ‘realised’ that sedimentary rocks were more resistant to the digging process than crystalline rocks. As a result, the river opened up the valley more easily in the crystalline soils, while in the resistant sedimentary soils, the valley that opened up was of the gorge type (Figure 2).

Over the course of millions of years, the digging of the old Poti River followed this logic: it dug more into the crystalline than into the sedimentary.

While digging in the crystalline, the river deepened the valley in the sedimentary, so that the riverbed was always at the same level of topographic height. Several tributaries emerged on the crystalline side, helping to widen the valley.

The result of this long evolutionary history was that a depressed area emerged on the crystalline side, while the sedimentary side became more prominent (Figure 3).

With the evolution over time of these erosive processes, the result was the formation of the Poti Canyon, the emergence of the Serra da Ibiapaba (which represents the uneven contact between crystalline and sedimentary rocks) and the formation of a large lowered area at the foot of the Ibiapaba, which corresponds to what we call the sertão.

The logic behind the existence of the Poti Canyon, the Serra da Ibiapaba and the sertão (today’s floor surface) is therefore one, the so-called ‘differential erosion’: the more resistant materials became little eroded, in the form of a throat (canyon) or elevation (Serra da Ibiapaba),and the more fragile material became lowered and depressed (the sertão) (Figure 4).

Thus ends our story. From now on, the trend is for this evolutionary process to advance, with the Serra da Ibiapaba retreating to the west and the eventual collapse of the canyon walls in the future (millions of years). That’s if society doesn’t change the course of evolution.

We have to hope that they never think of damming the river downstream of the canyon, as has happened in similar situations in other areas of the world and in our own country. Let’s look after the survival of our canyon.

The little map drawn up from topographical data shows the current situation (Figure 5).

Poti River Canyon Tourist Guide