The welcoming town of São Roque de Minas (with just over 6,000 inhabitants) is located 330 km from Belo Horizonte and is the main gateway to the Serra da Canastra National Park.
About 80% of the preservation area belongs to the mining town, which fills its residents with pride. Today, the town occupies the area that was once inhabited by the Cataguazes Indians, who were extinct in 1675 by the bandeirante Lourenço Castanho T.
The town was founded in 1762 thanks to the faith and strength of its inhabitants, who built a chapel in honor of São Roque on a farm owned by Manoel Marques de Carvalho, the town’s founder.
The city offers excellent infrastructure of hotels, inns, restaurants, and guides for tourists wishing to visit the Serra da Canastra Park, one of the largest environmental preservation reserves in the country, covering 220,000 hectares.
The mountain that gives the Park its name is called so because its hills and peaks seem to form, from a distance, a large trunk, or canastra.
The Park showcases great scenic beauty: enormous rock walls, waterfalls, rapids, and caves that protect a transition region between the Cerrado and the Atlantic Forest. The source of the São Francisco River, the second largest in Brazil, is located in the Park.
The landscape attracts adventure sports lovers and contemplative tourism. It is common to spot animals such as the giant anteater and the armadillo.
A must-see attraction is the Casca d’Anta Waterfall, with a free fall of 186 m. There are crystal-clear water pools at the top, before the fall, and a viewpoint from which one can enjoy a spectacular view of the Park.
Another attraction in São Roque is the famous queijo canastra, produced in the region for over 200 years. The cheese is slightly spicy, dense, and full-bodied, with a yellow color. Since May 2008, the cheese has been recognized as cultural heritage.
Source: www.visitbrasil.com