the section of the park next to it includes the pedra bonita and pedra da gávea region, containing the giant monolithic Rock Gávea - an important landmark and natural monument for the whole city.

finally, the park includes Covanca / pretos forros, which is the only area not currently open to visitors and reserved to academic and scientific research.

Originally established in 1961 as the National Park of Rio de Janeiro, the name was changed in 1967 to its current name - with tijuca meaning 'dirty water', in indigenous tupi language, in reference to the nearby lagoon, the lagoa da tijuca.

The Park has been expanded twice since its inception, with the addition of parque lage in 2004 and an addition of more land of the tijuca forest area in 2011 in celebration of its 50th anniversary as a National Park.