Itatiaia, which represents the most impressive part of the
Mantiqueira
mountain range, most probably originated beneath an alkaline volcano, at that time comparable to present - day
Mts Kenya and Kilimanjaro along the East African Rift. Over time, the volcanic cones eroded and
only the plutons remained visible.
Flora and
Fauna of the
park is divided according to
altitude.
In the lower part, between 650 and 1.500 m occurs the
montane
dense and
mixed
tropical
rainforest
on the oceanic side and semideciduous
seasonal
rainforest on the continental side.
Above 1.500 m occurs
high montane
rainforest and on the plateau above 1.600 m the so-called altitude fields
/ (
Campos de Altitude).
There are many hiking / trekking and mountain bike
trails in and around the park area
(see
tours).
