Itaimbezinho Canyon

Itaimbezinho is the best known of the canyons cut into the escarpment where the southern Brazilian plateau breaks off toward the coastal plain, and its walls run close to vertical for depths of up to about seven hundred metres, with two waterfalls - Veu de Noiva and Andorinhas - dropping off the rim into the gorge. The name is Guarani for sharp stone. Two rim trails do the standard visit: the Vertentes trail of about one and a half kilometres to the head of the canyon, and the Cotovelo trail of around three kilometres to a viewpoint over the bend. The descent to the canyon floor is a separate and much harder route requiring a guide. Above the rim the vegetation is araucaria forest and high grassland, and morning cloud filling the canyon is common enough to be the thing people photograph.

What you actually see

• Near-vertical walls - basalt to about seven hundred metres deep.
• Falls off the rim - Veu de Noiva and Andorinhas dropping into the gorge.
• Two rim trails - Vertentes to the head, Cotovelo to the bend.
• Cloud filling the canyon - the common early-morning condition.

When to go

April to September, with winter mornings clearest. A day.

Honest expectations

Entry must be booked online in advance with a time slot, and turning up without one does not work. Cloud closes the view on a large share of days, and there is no refund for weather. The rim trails are easy; the floor descent is a guided full-day undertaking. Wind on the rim is cold year round.

Nearby

Fortaleza canyon is north; Cambara do Sul is the base town.