from beginning to end, the hiking trail takes about 3 hours each way - and it is recommended hiring a local guide to go on this hike for the first time. 

there is also a more difficult trail that leads over the mountain morro da barra de guaratiba (pedra do telégrafo) and descends directly to praia praia funda and praia do inferno.

the wild beaches of guaratiba served as an initial landing point for the invasion of the city of rio de janeiro by the french privateer jean-françois duclerc.