Yucuma Falls

Salto do Yucuma is not a fall in the usual shape: instead of dropping across the river's width, the Uruguay runs along a fault and pours sideways into it over a lip roughly eighteen hundred metres long, which makes it the longest longitudinal waterfall in the world - a fall measured by its length rather than its height, which here is only about five to twenty metres, depending on the river level. It sits inside Turvo State Park, the largest remaining block of seasonal forest in Rio Grande do Sul, home to jaguar, harpy eagle and a mixed subtropical flora. The catch is that it only exists at the right water level: too low and the lip is dry, too high and the fault drowns and the whole thing disappears under the flow. Argentina is on the far bank.

What's there

• A fall 1,800 metres long - the river pouring sideways into a fault.
• Length, not height - a drop of only about five to twenty metres.
• Turvo State Park - the largest seasonal forest remnant in the state.
• The Argentine bank opposite - the Uruguay River as the border here.

When to go

May to September, when levels are usually right. A day, checking conditions first.

What to expect

The fall disappears entirely at both low and high water, and people regularly drive out to find nothing. Park staff publish conditions - check before travelling. The park is remote, roads inside are dirt, and viewpoints involve walking. Access closes in floods.

Nearby

Derrubadas is the gate town; Tenente Portela is east.

Key facts