4-day Trip in Jalapão from Palmas
Planeta Exo
TripsBrazilJalapão

4-day Trip in Jalapão from Palmas

Brazil
3 Nights·4 Days
JalapãoCultural & Community ExperiencesActive Adventures

Overview

Your Jalapão itinerary begins in Palmas, the capital of Tocantins and the gateway to Jalapão State Park, one of Brazil’s most striking Cerrado landscapes. Over the days, hike to waterfalls, float in the fervedouros (natural springs where you cannot sink), rest on quiet river beaches, and raft the Soninho or Novo River, depending on the season.

This 4-day Jalapão trip also opens the door to the region’s quilombola communities, with meals and stays in cozy pousadas in São Félix do Tocantins and Mateiros. We call it the Volta ao Parque (VAP), a circuit that explores the park on foot, against the usual tourism flow, one trail at a time.

Reachable only by 4×4, the route trades hours in the car for time on the ground at the Velha and Formiga waterfalls, the Buritizinho and Encontro das Águas fervedouros, the Serra do Espírito Santo, and the golden Jalapão dunes.

  • Full itinerary: hiking, fervedouros, waterfalls, rafting, and river beaches.
  • A deep dive into the less-visited side of Jalapão State Park in Brazil, reachable only by 4x4.
  • Iconic Jalapão waterfalls and springs: Velha and Formiga, the Buritizinho and Encontro das Águas fervedouros, the Serra do Espírito Santo, and the Jalapão dunes.
  • Cultural immersion with quilombola communities: Taboca, Boa Esperança, Mumbuca, Prata, and Rio Novo.
  • Comfortable pousada stays in São Félix do Tocantins and Mateiros.
  • Activities led by experienced local guides, with English-speaking guides available on request.
  • All-inclusive experience: round-trip 4x4 transfer, accommodation, meals, and local guides.

  • Please note: This is the Volta ao Parque (VAP), an active, off-the-beaten-path circuit reached only by 4×4, with full days of outdoor activities. The itinerary below is a guide and may shift with weather, water levels, and the season.

Itinerary

Day 1

Arrival in São Félix / Morro da Catedral Hike

  • DeparturePalmas · 7:15 AM (airport or hotel)
  • 4x4 transferPalmas → São Félix · 280 km · ~4h35 (170 km paved, 110 km dirt)
  • HikingMorro da Catedral · 1.6 km · ~2 hrs (sunset)

Our local partner picks you up in Palmas at 7:15 AM and heads for São Félix do Tocantins. The drive itself is part of the Jalapão itinerary: you stop for a swim at the Peixinho River spring and then have lunch at Dona Irani’s kitchen in the Taboca community.

In the late afternoon, climb Morro da Catedral, a 200-meter peak and one of Jalapão's signature viewpoints. The 1.6 km trail takes about `2 hours and puts you at the top for sunset over the savanna before you settle into your pousada in São Félix.

Meals included: Lunch / Dinner

Aerial panorama of a vast Cerrado savanna at dusk on a jalapão trip, with a lone flat-topped butte silhouetted against a pink and orange sky on the horizon
Low-angle view of the massive sandstone pillar of Catedral do Jalapão rising above a green cerrado hillside, with a circular trail marker sign visible among the rocks in the foreground and a blue sky with scattered clouds above, on a jalapão trip

Day 2

Boa Esperança Hike & Fervedouros / Velha Crossing & Class IV Rafting

  • HikingBoa Esperança (Mateiros) · 9.5 km · ~3.5 hrs · through Cerrado & fervedouros
  • Your choiceAraras Waterfall or 10 km rafting on the Soninho River
  • HikingTravessia da Velha · 12 km (15.5 km total · ~4.5 hrs)
  • RaftingCachoeira da Velha · ~4 hrs · Class IV

Day 2 follows one of two routes, matched to the season. Both are built around walking and water, and both end back at your pousada for the night.

Rainy season (November–April)

A morning hike of about 9.5 km reaches the Boa Esperança community, passing Cerrado vegetation and fervedouros along the way. After lunch near the Jatobá fervedouro, choose between a relaxed visit to the Araras Waterfall or a 10 km rafting run down the Soninho River.

Dinner is in the Prata community before the drive back to São Félix (47 km on a dirt road, ~1.5 hrs).

Dry season (May–October)

The Travessia da Velha runs about 12 km across open fields and trails to the Cachoeira da Velha, seen from a rare angle inside the park, with a picnic on a Novo River beach. The afternoon brings the Jalapão rafting highlight: a 4-hour Class IV trip on the Novo River, Brazil's largest river of clean, drinkable water.

At sunset, a final 3.5 km trail leads to the ecolodge for the night (80 km on dirt road, ~2 hrs).

Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Aerial view of a wide multi-tiered waterfall on a Jalapão trip, where a river drops over iron-rich rock ledges into a churning gorge flanked by dense Cerrado gallery forest and open grassland
An orange inflatable raft moored on rocky shore in front of a wide curtain waterfall during a Jalapão trip, with green cerrado forest framing a blue sky above
A group of helmeted rafters in an orange inflatable raft sheltering beside dark rocks as a massive waterfall curtain crashes down during a jalapão trip on the Soninho River
A tannin-stained stream meets clearer water along a narrow dirt trail bordered by dense tropical forest vegetation on a jalapão trip

Day 3

Fervedouros / Formiga Waterfall / Mateiros

  • FervedourosBuritizinho float
  • Hiking4 km · ~1.5 hrs · to Encontro das Águas
  • Formiga Waterfallone of Tocantins' signature sites

This is the fervedouro day, the part of any Jalapão trip travelers talk about afterward. Float in the blue-green water of Buritizinho, where the current holds you up, then hike 4 km to Encontro das Águas, the point where the Formiga and Soninho rivers meet and the water shifts color and temperature.

After a typical lunch in the Mumbuca community, reach the Cachoeira da Formiga, whose emerald pool is built for a long swim. You arrive in Mateiros in the late afternoon to rest (95 km on dirt road, ~3 hrs).

Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Aerial drone view of four people floating spread-eagle in a small circular fervedouro natural spring on a jalapão trip, surrounded by dense tropical vegetation with broad banana-like leaves
A woman in a red swimsuit wading through the calm, pale green waters of a fervedouro on a Jalapão trip, surrounded by lush tropical vegetation including banana trees
Woman in a red bikini floating underwater in the crystal-clear turquoise water of a fervedouro natural spring on a jalapão trip, with a white sandy bottom and lush tropical foliage above the waterline
Panoramic view over a vast cerrado landscape during a jalapão trip, with a flat-topped sandstone mesa silhouetted on the horizon beneath a dramatic sky of rose and amber clouds at sunset

Day 4

Serra do Espírito Santo Sunrise / Jalapão Dunes / Back to Palmas

  • Sunrise trekSerra do Espírito Santo · 4 AM · 200 m plateau
  • Jalapão dunesgolden dunes & Novo River beach
  • Transfer→ Palmas · arrive ~7:30 PM

The last day of your Jalapão trip starts in the dark. At 4 AM, climb the Serra do Espírito Santo, a 200-meter sandstone plateau, to watch the sun come up over the park. On the way down, reach the breathtaking golden dunes and cool off at a Novo River beach.

Lunch is the last shared meal of the tour, in the Rio Novo community, before the 4×4 turns back toward Palmas. You should arrive around 7:30 PM.

Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch

Panoramic view from a high sandstone escarpment on a jalapão trip, looking out over green cerrado vegetation and flat-topped mesas stretching to the horizon under a partly cloudy sky
A traveler sits on a sandstone cliff edge at sunrise during a Jalapão trip, looking out over a vast green plateau and distant mesa under a wide blue sky
Golden sand dunes with wind-rippled ridges in the foreground of a jalapão trip highlight, backed by a green belt of cerrado vegetation and a flat-topped sandstone escarpment under a partly cloudy sky
Aerial view of a couple holding hands on the golden sand dunes of Jalapão trip, with green shrubs, a river, and a dramatic sandstone escarpment under a cloudy sky
Intense orange and red sunset sky over silhouetted cerrado tree canopy on a jalapão trip, with dramatic layered clouds glowing gold above the darkened landscape

What is Included

  • Round-trip 4x4 transfer (Palmas ⇌ Jalapão)
  • Accommodation: 2 nights in São Félix do Tocantins and 1 night in Mateiros, in comfortable pousadas
  • Meals (full board), plus mineral water during all activities
  • Entrance fees for all activities
  • Guided tours (hiking, fervedouros, waterfalls, rafting, and river beaches)
  • Expert local guides and interaction with the quilombola communities

Not included

  • Flight tickets
  • Accommodation in Palmas (before or after the tour)
  • Breakfast on the first day and dinner on the last day
  • Drinks other than the mineral water included during activities
  • Travel insurance
  • English-speaking (or other-language) guides, on request and at additional cost, subject to availability
  • Optional tours, laundry, phone calls, tips, and other personal expenses
  • Any services not previously mentioned

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From

$ 650/ per person