[2] In prehistoric times the region of the park was occupied by Kaingang, collectors of fruit and seeds, and hunters.

[3] Apart from vacationers, the economy depended on trade in cattle, pigs and their products, which were taken for sale to Porto Alegre and neighboring municipalities.

A logging industry developed, exploiting the huge forest of araucaria pines, and accelerated when the railway arrived in 1924.

A pulp mill was built beside a tributary of the Arroio Caracol, which crosses the park, affecting the water quality.

Many species of animals were also driven out, including the maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus), which was hunted in the false belief that it killed cattle.

[2] The araucaria forest was devastated by logging from the 1920s to 1950s, but some specimens with trunks up to 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) in diameter are still found near the edge of the escarpment.

The vegetation is now regenerating, and Araucária angustifolia is forming an emergent stratum above a canopy of trees such as Pinho-bravo, Bugre and Capororoca.

30 species of mammals have been recorded, including veado mateiro, bugio-ruivo, gato-do-mato-pequeno, coati, otter and preá.

[6] The Loboguará Project, established in 1991, is based in the park and supports low impact ecological tourism and environmental education.

There are four interpretive trails, a center of environmental education in an old house built of araucaria pine wood by the Wassen family, and an amphitheatre.

[3] The trails are unsuitable for people in poor physical condition, who may instead pay to take the small train ride from the Sonho Vivo Station.