What to Do in Alagoa, Minas Gerais

Located in the Serra da Mantiqueira, in southern Minas Gerais, the town of Alagoa became famous for its cheese, but even though it’s small, it’s full of natural charm.

History of Alagoa

Like the other towns in southern Minas Gerais, Alagoa began to be settled around 1730, driven by the gold rush in Minas Gerais.

Its name, Alagoa, traces back to a large lagoon that once existed where the town now stands — drained by the bandeirantes in their search for gold and precious stones.

Today, the main economic activity for this town of 2,700 residents is primarily agriculture and livestock.

Where to buy cheese in Alagoa

There are several places to buy cheese here, but two stand out as the most well known, and those are the ones we ended up visiting.

Queijo D’Alagoa

Here, they’ll walk you through their cheeses, which have won awards in both Brazil and France, across a range of price points — and above all, every single one is delicious.

The shop is downtown, so it’s genuinely easy to find.

Queijo Serra do Condado

About five minutes past the Zé Pena waterfall, you’ll reach the home of Jair Martins de Barros, the brand’s owner and, above all, the maker of the cheese, produced entirely by hand.

Seu Jair is also super friendly and welcoming, and you’ll absolutely love visiting.

Where to buy olive oil in Alagoa

The Mantiqueira region is a place where olive oil production is just getting started, as we saw at Olibi in Aiuruoca — and similarly, in Alagoa, there’s Prado e Vazquez, also in the olive oil business.

Azeite Prado e Vazquez

The Fazenda Cauré covers 100 hectares within the Serra da Mantiqueira Environmental Protection Area (APA), with the plantation itself occupying 34 hectares, made up of 12,500 olive tree seedlings. Planting and cultivation began in October 2009, followed by additional plantings in 2010 and 2013. The first commercial harvest took place in 2015.

The varieties planted are Arbequina, Arbosana, Grappolo, and Koroneiki, which is why their olive oil is a blend.

You can see the production line right in the shop, since the equipment is on display behind a glass wall.

Trails in Alagoa

We ran three trails here, two long ones and a shorter one out to a tunnel — our favorite was Pico Santo Agostinho, since it’s a beautiful run with a view the whole way.

Mitra do Bispo

• Difficulty: medium
• Distance: 6 km (round trip)
• Time: 2 hours 30 minutes (round trip)
• Elevation: 2,195 meters
• Elevation gain: 523 meters
• Located in the Mantiqueira APA

This is the second-highest peak in Alagoa, right behind Pico de Santo Agostinho, and it wraps around the eastern side of town. The forest here is very dense, and the terrain is steep and, after rain, quite slippery — but it’s absolutely worth it. From the top, you can see not just the town of Alagoa, but also Pico do Papagaio.

Download the GPX for the trail to Pico Mitra do Bispo, in Alagoa.

Track powered by Wikiloc

Pico Santo Agostinho (Pico do Garrafão)

• Difficulty: medium
• Distance: 8 km round trip
• Elevation gain: 660 meters
• Elevation: 2,380 meters
• Admission and parking: free

We simply thought this was the most beautiful peak of our whole trip, since from up there you get a view of both Serra do Papagaio State Park and Itatiaia National Park.

Track powered by Wikiloc

Download the GPX for the Pico Santo Agostinho trail.

Túnel do Garrafão, or Jesuit Tunnel

A 50-meter tunnel, carved by Jesuits to channel water from a high-altitude lagoon for mining purposes — though it’s not entirely certain that was its actual use.

The entrance to the tunnel is along the road toward the headquarters of Serra do Papagaio State Park, a little past the turnoff for Pico de Santo Agostinho, where you’ll spot a sign.

Download the GPX for the trail to the Jesuit tunnel.

Track powered by Wikiloc

Serra do Papagaio State Park

• Difficulty: easy
• Distance: 12 km (round trip)
• Elevation gain: 290 meters
• Time: 2 hours

One of the entrances to Serra do Papagaio State Park is in Alagoa, so we headed there for a trail run near Pico do Santo Agostinho.

There’s not much elevation gain, so it’s great for running, and along the way we passed a beautiful natural laundry spring inside the park, making it a solid choice for an easy, relaxed workout.

Download the GPX for the 12 km run in Serra do Papagaio State Park.

Track powered by Wikiloc

Waterfalls in Alagoa

Neither of these is especially easy to find — Waze and Google Maps will get you close, but you’ll need to keep an eye out for the signs.

Cachoeira do Zé Pena

Located in the Condado district, close to Queijo do Condado, with water falling shower-style over the rocks, making it good for swimming. Free admission.

Cachoeira do Facão

This waterfall was once an old hydroelectric water source, with a short but steep trail leading down to it; it’s suitable for swimming. Free admission.

You’ll need to pull off the road to find it — once you turn onto the paved section, go slowly along the fence line until you spot the sign, which is fairly well hidden. If you go all the way down the slope and end up at a business, backtrack, since the entrance is partway down.

Where to eat in Alagoa

To start, Alagoa has few restaurant options, mostly simple home-style cooking, with nothing that really stands out. In the end, we picked Restaurante Tia Zilda.

Restaurante Tia Zilda

The space: simple and fine, the owner is very friendly, though there were a few flies buzzing around.

Main course: fried trout with rice, beans, and an omelet.

Dessert: brigadeiro cup cake, which was fine.

So, what did you think of Alagoa? It’s well worth a stop, if only to buy some cheese.