Itatiaia National Park Rock Climbing

Welcome to the high altitude climbing of Brasil!!! In Itatiaia you can find 6000...foot...peaks to play on all day long!

Itatiaia National Park lies between Rio and Sao Paulo along the main highway that connects the two urban hubs in Brasil. There are two parts to the park with two distinct entrances, the higher and the lower. Although there is climbing in the lower area of the park, the high altitude part is the more beautiful area and has the bulk of the climbing. The rock is granite and is extremely coarse. This is one of the better places in the region to find splitter cracks, and climbing is still being developed. If you are traveling through the area it is very much worth your while to spend a few days in Itatiaia climbing and exploring. You can climb here all year around, but if there are storms in the area you have to be aware of lightning danger.

There are three main areas in the higher part of the park— a small but good vertical sport crag called Couto, a small but equally good sport and crack climbing crag called Prateleiras, and Agulhas Negras the eighth highest summit in Brasil and a big granite peak with many moderate routes and hikes to its several summits.

The higher part of the park has a camping refuge (called ‘abrigo’ in Portuguese), that as of 2011 was free of charge. There were plans to do some modifications on it, however, so things might have changed. One of the main rangers in the park, named Luis, is a big climber, and can give you plenty of info if you run into him. Ask the guards if he is around and they might be able to help.

There are two guidebooks to the area. The newer one is small but functional and is called Planalto do Itatiaia by Eliseo Frechou and Felipe Guimaraes. I think there is work in progress on a third, better, guide. Ask around at the climbing shops in Rio or SP to see if they have a guide available.