A great day hike for hikers who love landscapes and like to have very few other tourists on the trails.  The hike is mostly downhill and of a moderate difficulty level.  It is possible to do different versions of this hike, a short hike (8,4km) , the complete hike (14km), or the complete hike with an extra visit to the Mandassaia waterfall (18km).  To visit the Mandassaia waterfall it is much more difficult, as you need to hike in a canyon with big rocks.

Bring of your own:

• Walking boots or very good shoes with a good sole!
• Sweater ( for the fresh mornings in the winter: 14 to 18 C° )
• Rain Jacket
• Small backpack (15L)
• Sunscreen ! ! !
• Hat ! ! !
• Sunglasses
• Swim suit
• Camera
• Water bottle ( we drink the very clean water of the rivers )

• Be aware that you will be hiking for 5-6 hours every day if you choose this trek  ! ( depending on which version)
• Weather conditions : with lots of rain, the trail to the Mandassaia waterfall is very slippery so it can be cancelled if the guide decides
• To go to the Mandassaia waterfall you need to hike into a green canyon full of rocks.  It can be too difficult and the guide can decide that arriving is not possible with the group.

Difficulty: Easy to moderate hike ( with Mandassaia waterfall moderate to difficult)

Suitable for all ages

Time: 30 minutes by car
4h30 ( short hike )
6h   ( complete hike )
8h   ( complete with waterfall )

Distance:
8km    ( short hike )
14km   ( complete hike )
18km   ( complete with waterfall )

Long description

After a 30 minutes drive on asphalt roads, the car drops you off at the beginning of the trail at around 850m.  The trail we walk on is one the two historical access roads to Lençóis.  The path is not so popular among most tourists so there is normally quite some vegetation growing over the path, long pants are best to have. 

The first half an hour you climb 50m and from then the trail is almost all the time downhill.   It is great to be outdoors and look at the huge mountains and rocks of the National park.   Another 2 hours hiking over the rocky path and you need to cross a little river. 

Then a short ascent brings you to the second part of the hike: Barro Branco.   From here you can see the low wetlands and the mountains to the south.  Barro Branco is a district to the north of Lençóis where only recently many people started to build houses to live close to the nature.  We stop for a swim at the Mandassaia river.  You can have lunch at this river or elsewhere in Barro Branco. 

After the break we have another 300m to hike downhill to Lençóis, it is about 6km.  You have many beautiful landscapes on the way down.  You pass in the “Vila do Barro Branco”, this was once a lively town, a few ruins of colonial houses can be found here, but mostly a lot of mango and jack fruit trees.  From the vila it is another 1h 30 min till you reach Lençóis.  You can visit alternatively a part of the river of Barro Branco to take a swim.