Vila Velha State Park

It's a state park in Paraná State, Brazil. It covers 3,803 hectares (9,400 acres). Over one million years, ice-age glaciers and wind erosion worked together to sculpt Vila Velha's unique rock formations.

The Vila Velha State Park, near Ponta Grossa, Brazil, is famous for its strange prehistoric looking limestone sculptured rocks. Nick named the “lost stone city,” sentinel-like sandstone figures resembling animals, humans and other shapes that can been seen in these unique formations. 

The park is located about 90km (55 miles) from Curitiba. It was created in 1953 and was listed as a State heritage in 1966.

The Vila Velha State Park is open from Wednesday to Monday and has recently been completely restructured.

The main attractions are the sandstone sculptures and Dourada Lake. The former elevators inside the Furnas Caves are no longer open to the public, in a conservation effort to protect the endangered animal and plant life which inhabit them. However, this stone formations can be observed from outside and is quite impressive. 

Park tours are conducted in minibuses under the supervision of a local guide. A visit lasts approximately three hours and gives you the opportunity to visit the rock formations on foot.

On one side of the loop road there are wide-open, native grasslands, while the other side is covered by the dense, humid vegetation of an Araucaria forest - an incredibly interesting contrast. You should plan for the tour to last six hours (round trip).

Photo by grayline

Photo by grayline

The Goblet" is the symbol of Vila Velha State Park. Photo by grayline

Photo by udiviagens

Dourada Lake: notable for its crystalline waters, approximately 300m in diameter and two or three meters deep, whose bottom is made of mica or malacacheta, feeds from the water of the furnas, through subterranean channels.

Photo by udiviagens

some sources: curitibatravel kapplemultimedia