The dry season — May through September — is the easiest time to visit. Roads are passable, trails are open, and the skies are clear. The trade-off is that the cerrado is at its driest and brownest, and some waterfalls run thin.
The wet season, October to April, brings the falls back to their full force but turns the dirt roads to mud and can close access to Engenho II and Santa Bárbara for days at a time after heavy rain. The cerrado is at its greenest in November and December.
June and July are the most popular months, when Brazilian schools are on winter holiday. August is the month of the Festa do Império at Engenho II, the most important Kalunga cultural festival of the year.