Serra do Rola-Moça State Park: A Natural Oasis in Minas Gerais

Serra do Rola-Moça State Park, created in 1994, spans across the municipalities of Belo Horizonte, Nova Lima, Ibirité, and Brumadinho, encompassing approximately 4,006 hectares. The park's primary mission is to preserve and conserve springs and ferruginous fields, fostering harmony between community activities and biodiversity protection.The park lies in a transition zone between the Cerrado and Atlantic Forest biomes, resulting in diverse ecosystems, including Atlantic Forest, cerrado, Alpine tundra, and rupestrian ferruginous fields. The ferruginous field vegetation, found on iron-bearing "canga" crust, is exceptionally rare and can only be visited with park monitors. The park is home to a variety of flora, including orchids, bromeliads, jacaranda, arnica, and cedrus. It also provides refuge for endangered fauna like cougars, ocelots, maned wolves, and Pampas deer.Visitors can explore the park's natural wonders through various hiking trails and lookouts, such as Três Pedras, Planeta, Jatobá and Morro dos Veados, which offer panoramic views. The park also protects six important springs that supply water to the city. These springs are named Bálsamo, Barreiro, Catarina, Mutuca, Rola-Moça and Taboões.The park's name has an interesting origin. It is said to be inspired by a poem by Mário de Andrade, which tells the story of a newlywed couple crossing the mountains on horseback when the bride's horse slipped, causing both her and her husband to fall to their deaths. Since then, the mountain has been called "Serra do Rola-Moça".