Serra do Curral, Parque das Mangabeiras & Praça do Papa Guide: BH's Mountain Skyline

Look south along almost any avenue in central Belo Horizonte and your eye is drawn to the dramatic, rust-red ironstone crest of the Serra do Curral. Rising to 1,390 metres above sea level along the southern edge of the Espinhaço Mountain Range, this natural amphitheatre gave the original eighteenth-century settlement its name (Curral del-Rei) and serves today as the city's official symbol and favourite high-altitude sunset terrace.

1. Praça do Papa (Praça Israel Pinheiro) and Rua do Amendoim

Perched at roughly 1,100 metres altitude at the top of Avenida Agulhas Negras in the upscale Mangabeiras neighbourhood, Praça Israel Pinheiro gained its universal nickname of Praça do Papa on 1 July 1980, when Pope John Paul II celebrated an open-air Mass here before half a million people, looking out across the valley and exclaiming, "Que belo horizonte!" ("What a beautiful horizon!"). Today, its terraced lawns, steps, and steel obelisk monument are the single best spot in the city to watch the late-afternoon sun turn the skyscrapers golden. One block down from the square, drivers often pause on Rua Professor Otávio Magalhães (Rua do Amendoim), where a famous topographical optical illusion makes a car left in neutral gear appear to roll effortlessly uphill.

2. Parque das Mangabeiras Maurício Campos (1982)

Directly above Praça do Papa, the 240-hectare (2.4-million-square-metre) Parque das Mangabeiras was landscaped by Roberto Burle Marx and inaugurated in 1982 as the largest ecological reserve inside the municipality. Protecting the transition zone where Atlantic Forest gallery woods meet high-altitude Cerrado and iron-rich Campos Rupestres grasslands, the park offers three signposted walking routes:

• Roteiro da Mata & Roteiro das Águas: Shaded forest paths where troops of tufted-ear marmosets (micos-estrela), coatis (quatis), and colourful tanagers cross wooden bridges above natural mountain springs that feed the São Francisco River basin.
• Mirante do Mangabeiras & Parque da Serra do Curral: Climb or ride the internal park shuttle up to the 1,175-metre Mirante do Mangabeiras or walk the ridge-top trail of the adjoining Parque da Serra do Curral for a 360-degree panorama stretching from downtown and Lagoa da Pampulha to the green peaks toward Ouro Preto; check the official municipal parks portal for current trail hours and registration rules.

3. Parque Estadual da Serra do Rola-Moça

Twenty minutes further southwest along the ridge on the scenic mountain road toward Brumadinho and Inhotim, the 3,941-hectare Serra do Rola-Moça State Park protects rare ferruginous canga fields and high-altitude lookouts such as Mirante do Morro dos Veados.