The name of this natural sanctuary comes from the book "Grande Sertao: Veredas" written by the Brazilian author Guimaraes Rosa, an essential masterpiece of literature in Portuguese language and one of the best books ever written by humanity as pointed out by the British newspaper The Guardian.

The park is to be found in the north part of Minas Gerais, in the southeast of the country. It was created in April of 1989 to protect this valuable 84,000 hectares ecosystem which was about to be destroyed by the large farmers. It it weren't for this decision, It would have been covered by extensive soy bean plantations by now.

The book of Rosa revealed to Brazilians and to the world the immense value of this ecological sanctuary. Guimaraes Rosa wrote his book after a journey crossing the region in 1952 with a group of cowboys who had to take 600 heads of cattle across the Sertao. The writer rode along 240 km on the back of a mule for 10 days, filling a notebook with notes describing all kinds of details and nuances.

The inhabitants of the Sertao are exactly as depicted by Rosa on his masterpiece. That is why it is said that travelling through the region is like diving into a wild place where you meet the living characters of Guimaraes Rosa, knowing the simple and unique vocabulary of the locals and understanding their inborn wisdom and cordiality.

The Sertao is a odd world inaccessible to the modern one. Rosa wrote that the Sertao was infinite. There are no daily papers in here, nor magazines or TV. The people of Sertao bathe in the rivers and live in mud houses with no luxury or comfort at all. They are, nevertheless, a spirited people who play tales of struggle and hope daily.

In the middle of the huge dry Cerrado sector, surge the veredas, streams and small flows that sustain an oasis of life with a diverse vegetation of palm trees, flowers and fruits.

A natural assets in its own right is the amount of menaced animal species of the region. You can find the Maned wolf, the Giant Anteater, the puma, the Pampas deer, the rhea, and the red legged Seriema.

Weather

The average annual temperature is of 21 C, which is typical of central Brazil with a well defined dry season. The driest period goes from September to November and the rainiest season from December to February. The average rain precipitation varies goes 1250 and 1500 mm per year.

Attractions

The veredas

The veredas accumulate water, resembling oases, which are then turned into streams. The Brazilian native palm trees, the buritis, thrive at these sites which not only protect the river sources but are also the refuge of various bird species.

Sierra of the Hubiste arado

A sierra full of sandy and rocky formations with varied colourations. It is the refuge zone for the red macaws who build their nests in its environs. The vegetation of buritis bordering the hills grows abundantly around the veredas (oases).

The tracks (The trillas)

The extended neighbouring roads of the sertao go through villages and settlements which are not shown on any map.

Advises

• Rides through the park are possible only with the company of personnel from IBAMA, the state run institution in charge of the protected area, which otherwise is not a place opened to the public.
• Due to the wild characteristic of the park, it is usual to go for hours without encountering other human beings.
• The herds of cattle and the wagons pulled by oxen are a common sight on the roads. The tracks show many eroded sectors and some sandy parts, though most of the rural roads can be defied with a handsome four wheel drive vehicle
• Don't pass up the reading of Guimaraes Rosa's book to better understand the culture and the history of the people.