The Tijuca Forest Hike: Waterfalls, Caves and Cascatinha Taunay
What a Tijuca Forest hike involves: Cascatinha Taunay and the other waterfalls, the caves trail, 2 to 4.5 km at a moderate pace, the guided options and prices, and the park's hours if you go alone.
A Tijuca Forest hike, as the tours sell it, is a half day on foot in the Floresta da Tijuca: 2 to 4.5 km of forest trail between Cascatinha Taunay, a string of granite caves and two to four smaller waterfalls, at a pace that needs moderate fitness and closed-toe shoes. You can walk it without a guide, since ICMBio does not require one. The tour solves the transfer from the beaches and the route between the stops, and Itaway Ecotours’ small group does it for US$72.66 per adult, with hotel pickup (checked November 2026; the booking calendar shows a lower price on some dates).
The calendar above is Itaway Ecotours’ Rio Rainforest: Waterfalls Hike, Wildlife & Caves: the small-group option picks up from named hotels in Copacabana, Ipanema, Leme, Leblon and São Conrado, at 7:15 AM or 1:00 PM. Free cancellation runs until 24 hours before.
The waterfalls
Cascatinha Taunay is on the route of nearly every Tijuca Forest tour here, hikes and jeeps alike: a waterfall about 35 metres high, and the first stop on Itaway Ecotours’ hike, which gives it 20 minutes. The rest are on foot. Its route follows the trail to Cascata Diamantina and ends at Cascata da Baronesa, where you can stand under the water; expect two to four waterfalls by season, and a dip that “may vary by season”. Bring swimwear and a towel.
There is one rule to know before you jump in anywhere. ICMBio’s 2026 protocol for the park says lakes and weirs are not for bathing, and river bathing is banned where it is signed, which the park does to protect drinking water or the environment rather than for your safety.
The caves
Itaway Ecotours’ caves trail runs through three grottoes among the granite boulders: the Bernardo de Oliveira, the Belmiro and the Bat Cave, which is over 100 metres from entrance to exit and has no bats inside. It can drop out of the day: between 22 and 29 October 2026, at least four reviews of the hike said the caves were closed or not reached, because of high winds, weather or the group.
How hard it is
Itaway Ecotours’ hike is rated moderate and needs moderate fitness: 2 to 4.5 km, some elevation gain, tree roots and rocky sections. Two things in the reviews are worth knowing. The rock gets wet: a French reviewer in October 2026 found the trail harder than “moderate”, with slippery rock on steep sections, and said one person in the group fell. And groups move at the group’s speed; at least four low reviews from October 2026 say it was too fast to look around.
If you want more walking, not less, Jungle Me's circuit is a 6-hour tour with a 6.2 km circuit of 2.5 to 3 hours on foot and about 448 m of climbing, past the Cova da Onça suspension bridge and the Mayrink Chapel, and asks for good fitness. If you want less, Itaway Ecotours’ private option can be adapted to all fitness levels.
Which hike to book
Rio Rainforest: Waterfalls Hike, Wildlife & Caves
Itaway Ecotours: 5 hours, 2 to 4.5 km, Cascatinha Taunay, the caves trail and the waterfalls ending at Baronesa, then Vista Chinesa on weekdays or the Canoas Viewpoint at weekends.
Check dates →Rio: Tijuca Forest Small Group Hike to Caves and Waterfalls
Jungle Me: a 6-hour tour with a 6.2 km circuit of 2.5 to 3 hours on foot and about 448 m of climbing, the suspension bridge and the chapel; transport from designated South Zone hotels; good fitness.
See the hike →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 and the Baronesa and Diamantina falls.
See the hike →Prices, ratings and review counts from the listings (GetYourGuide checked November 2026). Operators price by date, season and party size, so treat the figures as the shape of the market, not a quote.
| Hike | Length | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Rio Rainforest: Waterfalls Hike, Wildlife & Caves (Itaway Ecotours) | 5 hours, 2 to 4.5 km | US$72.66 per adult; US$145.32 for two |
| Rio: Tijuca Forest Small Group Hike to Caves and Waterfalls (Jungle Me) | 6 hours, 6.2 km | US$77.32 for one; US$137.86 for two (15 January 2027) |
| Rio: Tijuca National Park Peaks, Caves & Falls Guided Hike (Rio Natural Ecotourism) | 5 hours | US$105.00 for one; US$160.00 for two (15 January 2027) |
GetYourGuide option-picker prices for the small-group options, checked November 2026; Itaway Ecotours’ on 27 November 2026, 15 January and 26 March 2027.
Going without a guide
A guide is not mandatory in Tijuca National Park, ICMBio’s 2026 visiting protocol says. If you go alone, the protocol’s hours are what you plan around:
- Walkers and cyclists may enter the Floresta da Tijuca from 06:00 to 17:00, vehicles from 08:00 to 17:00, and everyone must be out by 18:00.
- Trails entered from the Bom Retiro area take new walkers from 07:00 to 15:00, and you fill in a short risk-and-rules form with one phone contact for your group.
- The visitor centre and toilets are open 08:00 to 17:00.
- The Floresta car park takes 300 cars and 40 motorcycles in the morning, and possibly as many again in the afternoon if spaces free up.
ICMBio, Parque Nacional da Tijuca, Protocolo Operacional da Visitação 01/2026, in force from 2 March 2026; checked November 2026.
What the protocol cannot do is get you there or show you the way between the falls and the caves; is Tijuca Forest safe? covers what the park does and does not take responsibility for. If you would rather have both handled, the small-group hike above picks you up at your hotel.
Hike the Waterfalls and Caves with a Guide
Itaway Ecotours' small-group hike: pickup from your hotel, Cascatinha Taunay, the caves trail and the waterfalls, then a viewpoint over Rio.
Check hike dates