Urca Hill hike is easy and well worth the effort.

And the hill itself is one of the most distinctive landmarks in Rio. It is one of the most popular hiking destinations in Rio de Janeiro. The hill is popular among both locals and tourists alike. It’s a short, well-marked and quite an easy hike. However, hiking is not the only way how you can get to the top of the hill. There’s a cable car that runs from Praia Vermelha to Sugarloaf Mountain. On the way to Sugarloaf, it stops at the top of Urca Hill.

Read on to learn more about Urca Hill hike.

1. Urca Hill Hike: Basics

Urca Hill is a hill located right next to Sugarloaf Mountain.

There are two ways how you can get to Urca Hill — by taking the cable car or hiking. Hiking to Urca Hill is a great way to save money. Also if you want to go to Sugarloaf mountain. If you hike to the top of Urca Hill, you can take the cable car to Sugarloaf from there, and it will be cheaper than taking it from the bottom of the hill, from Praia Vermelha — a beach at the foot of the hill.

Urca Hill trail is short and quite easy.

It’s also a very, very popular trail (a top trail in Rio de Janeiro). You see a lot of people there. Do we recommend it? Yes, yes, yes. The views from the top are similar as good as from the Christ the Redeemer, but the atmosphere is way more relaxing – there’s way more place on Urca and Sugarloaf, you aren’t all on a single platform.

MY ROUTE:

TIME & DISTANCE: 1 mile / 1.6 km (30 minutes) (one way)

As you can see from the map, first we went further, past the Urca Hill trailhead. We wanted to see what the trail to Sugarloaf mountain looks like. We walked as far as we could. It’s a dangerous trail. You can easily slip and fall. It is best to hike it with someone experienced. The last section (to the top of Sugarloaf) requires climbing equipment.

So, we didn’t do it, and went to Urca instead.

We turned around and went to the Urca Hill trailhead. It will take about half an hour to hike to the top of this hill. The trail is about one mile / 1.6 km long (one way).

Urca Hill (Portuguese: Morro da Urca) is a hill located right next to Sugarloaf Mountain. If you decide to hike only to this hill, and not go further by cable car, you can get an epic view of Rio de Janeiro completely for FREE.

2. How to Get To Urca Hill?

The trailhead is located near the cable car (Teleférico do Pão de Açúcar).

The cable car is right next to Praça General Tibúrcio (square). The best way to get to this place is by Uber. We took a public bus from Copacabana, though. We took a bus to the nearby bus stop and walked a bit. If you are staying in Copacabana, you can walk to Praça General Tibúrcio. It can be as little as 1.2 miles / 2 km, depending on where you stay. The area is perfectly safe to walk around during the day.

If you are standing in General Tibúrcio Square, facing the beach, the mountain and the trail is on your left. At first, you will enter the protected area (Sugarloaf Mountain and Urca Hill Natural Monument), and there’s a road that leads to Morro da Urca trailhead. If you walk past it, you eventually end up at Sugarloaf mountain trailhead.

You can’t hike to Sugarloaf mountain, unless you are an experienced climber / hike. Half of the route can be hiked, but keep in mind that the path is dangerous. It goes over slippery boulders, it’s steep, and you can easily fall into the ocean (and kill yourself on the rocks). So, better go with someone who has done it, and is experienced. I wouldn’t recommend doing that on your own with no experience in the area.

Urca Hill, on the other hand, is a completely different matter. It’s perfectly safe to hike it on your own. It’s just a regular, well-maintained hiking path.

Do we recommend it? Yes, yes, yes. The views from the top are similar as good as from the Christ the Redeemer, but the atmosphere is way more relaxing – there’s way more place on Urca and Sugarloaf, you aren’t all on a single platform.

3. Hiking Urca Hill / Urca Hill Hike: Our Experience in 2022

We took a bus from Copacabana to the nearby bus stop and walked a bit.

Before going up Urca Hill, we wanted to see what the Sugarloaf hiking trail looks like. So first we went further, past the Urca Hill trailhead. We found the beginning of the second trail, the trail that goes up Sugarloaf mountain. We walked as far as we could. It’s a dangerous trail. You can easily slip and fall. It is best to hike it with someone experienced. The last section (to the top of Sugarloaf) can be done safely only with climbing equipment.

After hiking for some time, we decided to turn around. Half of the Sugarloaf mountain route can be hiked, but keep in mind that the path is dangerous. It goes over slippery boulders, it’s steep, and you can easily fall into the ocean (and kill yourself on the rocks).

So, we went back to the Urca Hill trailhead.

It was Saturday, and there were quite a lot of people hiking to Urca Hill. At some point, we were walking in a line. But it’s OK. The trail is short, and it took us about 25 minutes to get to the top, despite the crowds.

At the top of Urca Hill, there are a few cafes and shops.

There are bathrooms and viewing platforms. It is very well developed and busy. Despite the crowds, we really loved it there. The views are wonderful, and the atmosphere — relaxing. You can grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the views. Normally, we aren’t into it, but here it really felt really relaxing.

From Urca Hill, you can see the runway of Rio’s second airport, Santos Dumont Airport. You can see planes landing and taking off in the distance.

We bought a cable car ticket from Urca Station to Sugarloaf. It takes just a few minutes to get from Urca to Sugarloaf. We spent about an hour at the top – having lunch, taking photos and visiting a small park at the top.

Then we took the cable car back to Urca Hill.

We hiked back to Praça General Tibúrcio.

Here are our photos from Urca Hill hike and Sugarloaf:

Have you been to Rio de Janeiro? Did you visit Urca Hill and Sugarloaf? Did you do the Urca Hill hike? If yes, what was your experience? Have you done any other hikes in Rio de Janeiro? I, personally, think that Rio de Janeiro is one of the best big cities for people who love hiking and outdoors.

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