Pico da Neblina

Pico da Neblina reaches 2,995 metres in the Serra do Imeri on the Venezuelan border and is the highest point in Brazil - a figure only settled after remeasurement, since the mountain is almost permanently in the cloud its name records. It stands inside both Pico da Neblina National Park and Yanomami indigenous territory, and that overlap governs everything: the route was closed to visitors from 2003 after conflicts over uncontrolled access and illegal mining, and reopened only in 2022 under an agreement in which the Yanomami community of Maturaca manages the visits, provides all guides and porters, and caps numbers. The trip runs about eleven days from São Gabriel da Cachoeira, through dense forest with river crossings and a steep final scramble, and turning up without the arrangement is not possible.

Highlights

• Brazil's highest point - 2,995 metres, usually wrapped in the cloud it is named for.
• Yanomami-run access - the community controls permits, guiding and numbers.
• A two-decade closure - shut in 2003 after uncontrolled access, reopened 2022.
• About eleven days in all - river crossings and a steep scramble at the top.

When to go

The drier window, roughly October to March. About eleven days including travel.

What to expect

You cannot go independently - all visits run through the Maturaca community with permits arranged months ahead and a cap on numbers. It is a hard, wet, leech-heavy trek. Cloud usually denies the view from the summit.

Nearby

Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira is the base town on the upper Rio Negro.

Key facts