Most tourists to Brazil have never heard of the Route of the Canyons, in the country’s deep south, but if you’re craving adventure and spectacular beauty, it’s well worth seeking out
The Serra Catarinense, or the Santa Catarina mountains, located in Brazil’s deep south, is a vast region of plateaus bedecked with craggy peaks and plunging waterfalls. Measuring about 6,000 square miles, the area runs through Santa Catarina, Brazil’s second southernmost state. The rugged landscape reverberates throughout the local gaucho culture, which celebrates the cowboy way South American style. I’ve been to Brazil about a dozen times and lived there for five years.
Earlier this year I traveled to Brazil with my mutt Gypsy. After spending a few months in Florianópolis, and with the fading summer giving way to fall, the canyons came to mind again. Serendipitously, I met Pedro McCardell, a Brazilian poet turned habitual explorer, who told me that not only did he know the Serra Catarinense well but he was also headed there in the following days.