Jalapão

The currency is the real (R$). Since May 1, 2026, the Mateiros city government charges a tourism fee of R$30 per person, valid for up to eight consecutive days. Press reports on the fee mention payment by Pix, by transfer or at authorized points; anyone without a Brazilian bank account should ask the agency or the pousada where to pay. The receipt, with a QR code, must be shown at inspections and at the sights. Registered residents, children up to 10, people over 65, people with disabilities and municipal employees on duty are exempt. On an agency package, check whether the fee is already included. The fervedouros and waterfalls on private property charge admission separately: a survey updated in March 2026 indicated entry fees of R$10 to R$25 per person at the fervedouros. Viewing the Cachoeira da Velha is free. Because cell signal is missing on most roads and the internet at some pousadas is unreliable, carry cash for entry fees and small purchases. To know the total cost of the trip, ask the agencies what the package includes: the 4x4 vehicle, driver, condutor, entry fees, municipal fee and meals are usually charged in different ways.

Getting there via Palmas

The gateway is Palmas Airport (PMW), about 20 km from the center of the Tocantins capital. The most-used route follows the TO-030 to Santa Tereza do Tocantins and the TO-130 to Ponte Alta do Tocantins, where the pavement ends; for Mateiros, continue on the TO-255, a dirt road. Mateiros is about 300 km from Palmas by this route, and the trip takes five to six hours.

The circuit and the exit to the north

Many itineraries run as a circuit: they enter through Ponte Alta, continue to Mateiros, cross to São Félix do Tocantins on the TO-110, a dirt road, and leave through the north, on the TO-030 and the TO-247 to Lagoa do Tocantins, and from there by pavement to Palmas; it can also be done in the opposite direction. By the OpenStreetMap layout, São Félix to Palmas by this route is about 240 km. The stretch to Lagoa do Tocantins mixes dirt and pavement and is under paving works: in November 2025 the state government delivered about 25 km of paved road on the TO-030 as far as the bridge over the Rio do Sono. Confirm the state of the road with the agency before setting out.

Agency or your own car

Inside the Jalapão the roads are dirt and soft sand, and four-wheel drive is indispensable. Most visitors travel with an agency, which provides the vehicle, the driver and the condutor. Anyone who rents a 4x4 in Palmas and drives on their own needs experience on sand and, even so, hires a local guide or condutor to enter the dunes and the Serra do Espírito Santo, which require a park voucher. Agencies and condutores need a Naturatins license; check the number before you sign. There is no cell signal on most of the dirt roads, so agree on meeting points and times before each stretch.

Distances between the sights

The sights are far from one another and from the towns. By the OpenStreetMap road layout, Ponte Alta is about 160 km from Mateiros, Mateiros about 80 km from São Félix do Tocantins, and the dunes, the Fervedouro do Ceiça and the Cachoeira do Formiga about 30 km from Mateiros. The Comunidade Mumbuca is a few kilometers from the Ceiça and the Buritizinho, which allows combining the three in the same day. On sand, speed is low and the time varies with the season and the state of the road; the condutor is the best judge of each stretch.

The main risks in the Jalapão come from distance and weather. Sand roads bog down vehicles without four-wheel drive and anyone who does not know the terrain, the stretches between sights are long and poorly marked, and there is no cell signal on most of the dirt roads; traveling with a condutor or an agency licensed by Naturatins solves most of this, and anyone driving alone should leave the day's route with the pousada. The heat is strong, with average highs above 35 °C from August to October: the descent of the Serra do Espírito Santo and walks on the dunes call for water, a hat and early-morning or late-afternoon hours. Medical care is limited: in Mateiros, the public service is the Centro Municipal de Saúde Cristo Rei, which in March 2026 was the subject of a court ruling over lack of equipment, and a 2020 report put the nearest hospital for São Félix in Porto Nacional, about 255 km away. Bring personal medication and a first-aid kit. In the fervedouros the body does not sink, but there is no firm bottom to stand on, and you must follow the instructions of the person in charge. At the falls of the Cachoeira da Velha, swimming is forbidden because of the force of the water. In the dry season the cerrado burns easily, and campfires are forbidden in the park.

Enter the fervedouro clean

Sunscreen, repellent, moisturizer and makeup are forbidden in the water. The rule exists to protect the spring's water. Nor do people jump or dive in headfirst, because the movement stirs up the sand on the bottom.

Respect each group's time

The fervedouros take small groups, usually of up to ten people, for about 15 to 20 minutes. When there is a line, the time may be shortened. Getting out on time is what lets the next group in.

Stay on the dune trail

On the dunes, you climb and descend by the paths the condutor indicates. The rules Naturatins published in 2023 prohibit using the sandstone wall, flying a drone without authorization, and bringing alcoholic drinks, loud music, campfires and pets into the park. Check with the agency whether anything has changed.

Buy capim dourado already made into pieces

Tocantins rules forbid capim dourado from leaving the region in its natural state. Buy finished pieces, preferably from the Mumbuca association or local artisans, and do not pull stalks in the veredas.

Renting a car without 4x4

After Ponte Alta the roads are soft sand and dirt. An ordinary car gets stuck, and even a 4x4 needs someone who knows how to drive on sand, which is why most people go with an agency.

Arriving at the dunes without a voucher

Entry to the dunes and the Serra do Espírito Santo depends on a voucher issued by the park administration and, under the 2023 rules, on a guide or local condutor. Without a booking made by the condutor or the agency, you do not get in.

Underestimating distances

An afternoon at the dunes and a morning at the Cachoeira do Formiga look close on the map, but each stretch is driven slowly on sand. Plan one group of neighboring sights per day instead of crossing the region.

Putting on sunscreen before the fervedouro

Anyone who goes straight from the waterfall or the trail to the fervedouro with sunscreen on the skin does not get in. Leave the sunscreen for after the swim or wear clothing with sun protection.

Expecting to swim at the Cachoeira da Velha

The Velha is viewed from the platform, and swimming in the falls is forbidden because of the current. For a swim, the Cachoeira do Formiga is the option.

Forgetting the Mateiros fee

Since May 2026, visitors to Mateiros pay R$30 per person and must keep the receipt, which may be requested at the sights. Anyone without Pix should ask the agency or pousada about authorized payment points, and anyone traveling on a package should check whether the fee is already included.

Fervedouro

A spring where water rises under pressure through the sand and makes the body float

Vereda

A damp meadow with buriti palms along a watercourse, where the capim dourado grows

Chapadão

A flat-topped plateau with sheer edges, common in the Jalapão landscape

Seda de buriti

The fine fiber of young buriti leaves, used to sew the capim dourado pieces

Atolar

To get a car stuck in sand or mud, the most common problem on the roads of the region

Plateaus and sand

The Jalapão is a mosaic of sandstone plateaus (chapadões), up to about 800 m in elevation, with plains of pale sand between them. Constant erosion of the sandstone in the ranges forms the orange dunes, which sit at the foot of the Serra do Espírito Santo, inside Jalapão State Park, whose territory is divided between Mateiros and São Félix do Tocantins. The town of Mateiros sits at 493 m, and the municipality is the only one in Tocantins that borders Piauí, in addition to Bahia and Maranhão.

Rivers, veredas and fervedouros

The region is crossed by fast, clear-water rivers: the Novo, the Sono, the Soninho, the Balsas, the Preto and the Caracol. In the damp meadows along them grow the buriti palm veredas and the capim dourado. The fervedouros are springs where groundwater wells up under pressure through deep layers of fine sand; the sand stays in suspension, there is no firm bottom to stand on, and the body is pushed back to the surface. About 20 have been cataloged in the region, most of them on private land between Mateiros and São Félix do Tocantins.

Climate and distances

The climate is tropical, with two sharply defined seasons. At the nearest World Meteorological Organization station with a published normal, in Alto Parnaíba (MA), about 170 km from Mateiros, the 1991 to 2020 average records 0 to 3 mm of rain a month from June to August and more than 190 mm a month from January to March; from August to October average highs exceed 35 °C, peaking in September. The sights are spread out: by the road layout in OpenStreetMap, Mateiros is about 30 km from the dunes, the Fervedouro do Ceiça and the Cachoeira do Formiga, and about 80 km from São Félix do Tocantins, almost all on dirt and sand.

Capim dourado and buriti silk

The living culture of the Jalapão passes through the hands of its artisans. The capim dourado is harvested in the veredas once a year, from September 20, and sewn with the silk, the fine fiber taken from the young leaves of the buriti. Mumbuca is the core, but the craft has spread to Mateiros, São Félix do Tocantins and other localities. Selling the pieces is the activity that brings in the most income in these communities, alongside subsistence farming and tourism.

The viola de buriti

In Mumbuca, in the 1940s, the viola de buriti was born, a regional variant of the Brazilian viola made from the light wood of the palm stalk. It has four strings, no top or back, and the fretless neck is held on with taboca bamboo clamps. In 2018 the association of Mumbuca's artisans asked Iphan to register the instrument as intangible heritage.

Festivals of the backlands

The calendar follows the harvest and religion. In Mumbuca, the Capim Dourado Harvest Festival takes place in September, when the grass may be cut. In São Félix do Tocantins, the festivities for Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, the patron saint, run from November 29 to December 8.

Survivor: Tocantins (CBS, 2009)

The 18th season of the American reality show was filmed in the Jalapão in 2008 and showed the world its plateaus, rivers and dunes, with the teams named Timbira and Jalapao.

O Outro Lado do Paraíso (TV Globo, 2017)

The telenovela used the Jalapão as a setting and brought the dunes and the fervedouros to prime time on Brazilian television.

Passarim do Jalapão, by Dorivã

A song by the Tocantins singer-songwriter Dorivan Borges da Silva, who performs as Dorivã Passarim do Jalapão. A regional hit, it gives its title to his first album, whose compositions deal with the cultural roots of Tocantins.