The Chapada dos Guimarães is a sandstone plateau rising abruptly out of the lowlands an hour north-east of Cuiabá. Its red cliffs, canyons and waterfalls are protected in a national park, and the old town of Chapada dos Guimarães on top is the base for exploring it.
The park's emblem is the Véu de Noiva, the bridal veil, a waterfall of about eighty-five metres dropping off the plateau into a forested bowl, seen from a viewpoint near the road. Longer walks, most requiring a registered guide, lead to the Circuito das Cachoeiras, a string of swimming holes and falls, and to the Caverna Aroe Jari, one of the largest sandstone caves in Brazil, with the Lagoa Azul, a vivid blue pool, near its entrance. At the Mirante do Centro Geodésico, cliffs look out over the plains toward Cuiabá from near the continent's geographical centre.
The town is small and pleasant, noticeably cooler than Cuiabá, and has become a weekend retreat with good restaurants and pousadas. Combined with the Pantanal, which starts on the other side of Cuiabá, it makes one of the best short trips in central Brazil.