Brazil

Lençóis Maranhenses National Park

WHS Score 3.49
rate
Votes 11 Average 4.05
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Votes for Lençóis Maranhenses National Park

3.0

  • Thomas van der Walt

3.5

  • Alejandro Lau
  • Doubanjiang
  • Els Slots
  • João Aender

4.0

  • Alexander Lehmann
  • Luis Filipe Gaspar

4.5

  • Alex Marcean

5.0

  • Atila Ege
  • Eva Kisgyorgy
  • Jon Opol

Lençóis Maranhenses National Park has a 70km long coastline known for its high amount of dunes.

During the rainy season, colourful lagoons arise amidst the dune fields in temporary ponds above a layer of impermeable rock. The park also has a variety of mammal, bird and plant species.

Community Perspective: Best reached from the hub of Barrerinhas, where frequent (half) day tours will lead you to the dunes and the lakes. Rafabram has described the experience of such a tour, while Els explains how to get to the area from Sao Luis.

Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
Lençóis Maranhenses National Park (ID: 1611)
Country
Brazil
Status
Inscribed 2024 Site history
History of Lençóis Maranhenses National Park
2024: Inscribed
Inscribed
WHS Type
Natural
Criteria
  • vii
  • viii
Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org

Community Information

  • Community Category
  • Natural landscape: Rivers, Wetlands and Lakes
  • Archaeological site: Pre-Columbian
Travel Information
Seasonal WHS
Seasonal WHS
"filled in the rainy season to create temporary lagoons of various colours, shapes, sizes …
Recent Connections
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Connections of Lençóis Maranhenses National Park
Geography
Ecology
  • Lagoons
    "temporary and permanent lagoons" (AB ev)
  • Mangroves
    "lush mangroves" (AB ev)
  • Dunes
    "white coastal dune field" (AB ev)
World Heritage Process
Visiting conditions
  • Seasonal WHS
    "filled in the rainy season to create temporary lagoons of various colours, shapes, sizes and depths. ... presents its best scenery when the lagoons reach their maximum volume, creating rare beauty" (AB ev) - Best time to visit is May - September, after the rains (wikivoyage)
  • Best seen from the sky
    The site is famous for and named after its ‘crumpled sheet’ effect, with uncountable ripples and folds in the sand created by wind erosion.
WHS Names
News

No news.

Community Reviews

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First published: 20/12/22.

Els Slots

Lençóis Maranhenses National Park

Lençóis Maranhenses National Park (Inscribed)

Lençóis Maranhenses National Park by Els Slots

We can expect to see Lençóis Maranhenses National Park (LMNP) on the WH List within the next few years: Brazil already submitted a complete dossier for it in 2020, but it had two that year and gave preference to the Sitio Roberto Burle Marx. The park essentially is a landscape of sand dunes, dotted with lakes that form due to rainfall. It’s not a desert and there is no permanent water source.

I visited it on a half-day sunset tour to Lagoa Bonita. Entrance here is only possible via a guided tour by 4x4, as the roads inside the park are sandy, and muddy, and go up and down. The 45-minute drive goes mostly through a forested area and I was surprised to see people also living and farming there.  

We were let out of the car near the climb to the sand dunes area. Here we first had to wade some 300 meters through mid-thigh deep water, before a short sandy climb awaited. All is done best on your bare feet: it actually felt wonderful!

The rest of the tour was actually free time to swim or explore the dunes. Two large lakes had formed where we entered (I believe they're called Lagoa da Prata), and I hiked a full lap around one of them. For some of it, I walked on the pristine sandy dune ridges, but I also got my feet wet in the cool water by following the coastline for a bit. The …

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First published: 14/07/18.

Rafabram

Lençóis Maranhenses National Park

Lençóis Maranhenses National Park (Inscribed)

Lençóis Maranhenses National Park by Rafabram

I visited this National Park in July 2017. Lençóis means sheets, a reference to the wavy lanscape of the park, a system of little lagoons among sand dunes. I don't know if a landscape like that can be found elsewhere, but for me it seems very unique. It's important to say that many of the lagoons can dry in the second semester, and I can't imagine the beauty of the park without them. To reach Lençóis Maranhenses first you need to go to Barreirinhas, a small city with hotels and the general support. Most of travellers arrive there from São Luís, the closest city with an international airport, and also with a historic centre listed as heritage site. On my road trip I chose another way, going from Parnaíba city, but that's not the easiest way for a foreigner traveller. Barreirinhas is just ok, not very appealing except for the views of a river there, but restaurants are nice.

In the hotel they offered some options of day trips to the park. I went only to the tour of Blue and Emerald lagoons, but there's also a popular tour to the Bonita lagoon, a little more distant. These two lagoons are more famous because of their colors, but there's a countless number of them. Arriving in the park is a little adventurous. The usual way is to go in seats in the back of a pickup truck, not so uncomfortable as it sounds, but it can be a little …

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