Road distances and drive times in the Chapada

How these numbers were produced

Worth saying before the table, because it changes how you should use it.

• The distance is the shortest path across the OpenStreetMap road network, starting at the ranch gate. It is not the straight line maps and booking sites usually show.
• The time is an estimate, computed at 60 km/h on asphalt and 22 km/h on dirt — speeds calibrated against two legs we drove and timed.
• The surface comes from each road's classification in the network: asphalt, dirt or mixed — some of each, without the network saying how much, so the table does not make up the split.
• The reference point is downtown Alto Paraíso, 19 km (about 25 min) from our gate.

So: these are not odometer readings. They are real routes with modelled time. For comparing one base against another and deciding where to stay, that is more than enough — and more than exists published anywhere else.

To reach the ranch itself, see how to get here.

What the table shows

The National Park lies beyond Vila de São Jorge, which is 52 km away by road. The park spots (Canyons & Cariocas (National Park), Carrossel Waterfall (National Park), Rio Preto Falls (National Park), Janela Lookout) carry a ≈: the network has no route to them, so the table shows the straight line — by road they are further than the village's 52 km. Stay in São Jorge and those trips take minutes; from the Alto Paraíso side, the village alone is 1h each way.

The reverse is equally true. Papagaio, Loquinhas, São Bento, Almécegas and Cristais are all within 31.1 km of our gate, on the Alto Paraíso side, away from the National Park. From São Jorge it is the same crossing in the other direction.

The surface matters more than the kilometres. Catarata dos Couros: 35 km in 1h34, nearly all dirt. Poço Encantado: 72 km — twice as far — in 1h20, on asphalt. It is the column that decides which car to rent.

To choose a base from this, see the guide to where to stay in Chapada dos Veadeiros.