Travel Guide Parque Nacional Dos Lençóis Maranhenses

This magnificent desert of dunes dotted with freshwater lagoons stretches some 65 km long and 25 km wide, bordering the Atlantic and surrounded by tropical rainforest. Seen from the air, the spectacle is exceptional: the dunes are dotted with huge lakes of limpid green and blue water, formed by the tropical rains trapped in the middle of the dunes. You can cross a desert similar to the Sahara while bathing in improbable natural pools! The Parnaíba and Preguiças rivers carry sediment from the arid lands of the Sertão. They are discharged into the ocean before being guided by sea currents towards the Maranhão coast, where they are deposited. The wind carves out dunes sometimes 50 m high. However, the park is not a desert. Rainfall is 1,750 mm per year (300 times more than in the Sahara), creating an ocean of sand interspersed with verdant oases (Baixa Grande and Queimada dos Britos) and hundreds of crystal-clear lagoons teeming with small crustaceans.The park spreads its draperies of dunes ("lençóis" means "sheets") over an area of 155,000 ha. To the west, between Barreirinhas and Santo Amaro, lie the Grandes Lençóis, and to the east of Barreirinhas, along the rio Preguiças, the Pequenos Lençóis run as far as Tutóia, in the Parnaíba delta. Or take the boat to the quieter Atins. Please note: only accredited guides are allowed to use vehicles in the national park.