Brazil Tours

Mountain Bike Tours / Brazil - Serra dos Órgãos National Park is an integral protection conservation unit of the Mata Atlântica Biosphere Reserve in the State of Rio de Janeiro. It is located 90 km north of the capital and tours start either from imperial Petrópolis or Teresópolis (see map).

Serra dos Órgãos (Organ Mountains) is the local name given to a section of the Serra do Mar mountain chain which in this region is heading inland, due to the presence of the Guanabara - Graben. The granitic southwestern rockface of Pedra do Sino (2.263 m) is considered one of the most difficult climbing routes in Brazil.

The spectacular rock formations in the eastern part of Serra dos Órgãos which from the distance look like huge organ pipes of a church, represent the visible granite - gneiss outcrops which are underlain by an enormous (100 km) intrusive body (batholith) that have resisted the erosional forces. Radiometric dating indicates, that this pluton must have been created by the slow subterranean solidification (crystallization) of magma melts, about 570 million years ago, during the consolidation of the Atlantic Shield in the course of the Neoproterozoic Brasiliano event.

Serra dos Órgãos National Park and surrounding areas provide excellent hiking & trekking opportunities. Of particular ecological interest are the so - called campos de altitude which occur above 1.800 m and contain many endemic species.

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