Forno Grande State Park

The Forno Grande State Park is in the municipality of Castelo, Espírito Santo. It has an area of 730 hectares (1,800 acres).[1] It protects the second highest peak in the state of Espírito Santo, the 2,039 metres (6,690 ft) Forno Grande Peak. It contains trails and waterfalls. The area includes a large cloud forest at the top of the peak. It is home to endangered species such as the cougar (Puma concolor), ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) and southern muriqui (Brachyteles arachnoides).[2]

The park includes a visitor center with the Onça Pintada (Cougar) museum, and is open daily from 8:00 to 17:30. The visitor center has restrooms, drinking fountains and collections of fauna and flora. There is also a small accommodation for researchers with beds, mattresses, kitchen and bathroom. Camping is not allowed, and there is no restaurant in the park, but there are facilities nearby.[2] The park gets about 200 visitors per month.[3]

The Forno Grande State Park was created on 31 October 1960 as a forest reserve. In 1998 law 7.528 converted it to a state park with the objectives of conserving fauna and flora.[1] It became part of the Central Atlantic Forest Ecological Corridor, created in 2002.[4] It has been administered by the State Institute of the Environment and Water Resources (IEMA) since September 2007.[1] The park was closed to visitors indefinitely in September 2016 for safety reasons, to avoid fires after a long period of drought in which the two springs had dried up.[3]