Pedra Bonita, Pico da Tijuca and the Viewpoints
The Pedra Bonita hike, Pico da Tijuca and Vista Chinesa: the park's gate and trail hours, which guided hikes go to each summit and what they cost, and Pedra da Gávea.
Pedra Bonita is the summit you can add to a Tijuca half day: Rio Natural Ecotourism’s guided hike gives it about an hour on the trail before the waterfalls and caves, with hotel pickup. Pico da Tijuca, at 1,021 metres, is a separate hike of its own. Without a tour, plan around the park’s gates: entry to the Pedra Bonita trail closes at 16:00 (ICMBio, 2026).
The calendar above is Rio Natural Ecotourism’s Rio: Tijuca National Park Peaks, Caves & Falls Guided Hike. Its small-group option cost US$150.00 for two adults on 27 November 2026, and US$105.00 for one or US$160.00 for two on 15 January 2027: the price a person falls as your group grows. The group option picks up in the South Zone and parts of Barra da Tijuca. Free cancellation runs until 24 hours before.
Pedra Bonita
Pedra Bonita sits in the south-west of Tijuca National Park, above São Conrado, with Pedra da Gávea beside it. On Rio Natural Ecotourism’s hike it is the first stop after the Mirante das Canoas: the summit gives a view over the city, the coast, Pedra da Gávea and Christ the Redeemer, and the hike to it takes about an hour of the day. The tour then drives to the Floresta da Tijuca for Cascatinha Taunay, the Bat Cave and two waterfalls, and finishes at Vista Chinesa.
ICMBio’s 2026 protocol sets the hours at Pedra Bonita: the vehicle gatehouse lets you in from 08:00 to 17:00 (to 18:00 in summer time), and you must start up the trail by 16:00. At the gate you fill in a short risk-and-rules form with one phone contact for your group. The same rock carries the ramp the protocol names as the permitted take-off site for hang gliding in the park; hang gliding in Rio covers the tandem flights from it.
Pico da Tijuca
Pico da Tijuca, 1,021 metres up in the Floresta da Tijuca sector, is a hike in itself, and its last stretch climbs a stone staircase cut into the rock. Rio Natural Ecotourism sells it as a guided half day on both platforms: Rio: Tijuca Forest's Highest Peak & Jungle Waterfall Shower on GetYourGuide, 5 hours with Cascatinha Taunay, a waterfall shower after the hike and Vista Chinesa on the way back, and Tijuca Peak Hiking on Viator, from US$92 a person (checked November 2026), with pickup from your hotel or apartment in its pickup area at an early-morning or an afternoon time. Going on your own, remember that walkers may enter the Floresta da Tijuca only from 06:00 to 17:00, and the trails entered from its Bom Retiro area only until 15:00 (ICMBio, 2026).
Which summit to book
Rio: Tijuca National Park Peaks, Caves & Falls Guided Hike
Rio Natural Ecotourism: about an hour on the Pedra Bonita trail, then Cascatinha Taunay, the Bat Cave, the Baronesa and Diamantina falls and Vista Chinesa. Group pickup in the South Zone and parts of Barra da Tijuca.
Check dates →Tijuca Peak Hiking - The Highest Summit in Tijuca National Park
Rio Natural Ecotourism on Viator: 5 to 6 hours to the summit of Pico da Tijuca, with pickup in its area at an early-morning or afternoon time.
See the hike →Prices, ratings and review counts from the listings (GetYourGuide checked November 2026; Viator checked November 2026). Operators price by date, season and party size, so treat the figures as the shape of the market, not a quote.
Vista Chinesa
Vista Chinesa is the viewpoint many tours end at, an oriental-style pavilion with Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf and the coast in view. Every tour in this guide that stops there leaves it out on weekends and public holidays; Itaway Ecotours’ rainforest hike goes to the Canoas Viewpoint instead on those days, and Rio Natural Ecotourism’s hike has the Mirante das Canoas on its route already.
Pedra da Gávea
Pedra da Gávea, next to Pedra Bonita, is a harder climb and not a half-day add-on. Edu Rio de Janeiro's Pedra da Gávea Summit Hike takes 6.5 hours, about 3 up and 3 down, with rope and harness provided, and asks for good fitness. ICMBio lets walkers in at the Pedra da Gávea gatehouse from 08:00 to 14:00 only, and out by 17:00 (18:00 in summer); hang-gliding and paragliding gear is not allowed on its trail.
ICMBio, Parque Nacional da Tijuca, Protocolo Operacional da Visitação 01/2026, in force from 2 March 2026; checked November 2026.
Pedra Bonita, Then the Waterfalls
Rio Natural Ecotourism's guided hike: about an hour on the Pedra Bonita trail, then Cascatinha Taunay, the Bat Cave and the Baronesa and Diamantina falls, with hotel pickup.
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