With an area of 4,397 hectares (10,870 acres), it is the largest fully protected municipal conservation unit in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

The park contains an imposing mountain range that contains large rocky outcrops such as the Tartaruga, Camelo and Santana.

[1] The park was included in the Central Rio de Janeiro Atlantic Forest Mosaic, which had been created in December 2006.

A partnership between the park and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro is to plant seedlings of native Atlantic Forest trees in the most degraded areas.

It was expropriated by the Instituto Nacional de Colonização e Reforma Agrária (INCRA: National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform) in 1990 and made into a rural settlement project with about 100 plots.

[2] The headquarters include the administrative center, an auditorium, library and areas for research work and permanent exhibitions.

[1] The Ponte Nova center is the best preserved area of the park, with well-preserved forest remnants and little human disturbance.