Quixada – Morro do Urucum

Quixadá – Morro do Urucum is one of the world's best cross-country sites for long, straight-line flights, in Ceará, Brazil, launching at 470 m into strong, reliable thermals and offering a genuinely pleasant soaring flight at sunset too. Cross-country retrieves here are the real challenge: the roads, especially the stretch toward Monsenhor Tabosa, are poor, and while communications keep improving year over year, they're still patchy — pilots heading out for distance are told to carry plenty of water, a hat and sunscreen. Takeoff is a wooden ramp for hang gliders and a natural dirt ramp for paragliders, reached about 106 miles from Fortaleza via either the BR-116 (the 'Cotton Road') or the CE-060 state road — both good, paved routes — then a partly bricked, partly paved uphill road about 7.5 miles from Quixadá itself. Wind at takeoff can run too strong from September through January; the on-site launch director helps find a safe window when conditions allow. The bail-out landing, in front of takeoff on the lake side, is best avoided since the retrieve from there is long — the official landing zone is in front of the Hotel Pedra dos Ventos instead.

Launch & conditions

Takeoff has a wooden ramp for hang gliders and a natural dirt ramp for paragliders.

Getting there & local rules

About 106 miles from Fortaleza via the BR-116 ('Cotton Road') or the CE-060 state road — both good, paved routes — then a partly bricked, partly paved uphill road roughly 7.5 miles from Quixadá to the ramp.

Check conditions before you fly

A forecast for the valley is not a forecast for the launch. Before heading to Quixada – Morro do Urucum, read the wind and thermals for the site itself, confirm the day's rules with the local club, and remember the standing rule — when in doubt, don't launch. In the free OutDare app you can open Quixada – Morro do Urucum with a 7-day forecast built from high-resolution weather models, see who else has been flying, and get there with offline maps.