The Garganta del Diablo Circuit — which is known in English as The Devil’s Throat Circuit — at Iguazú National Park is currently closed due to the anticipation of substantial flooding as a result of significant precipitation.
Garganta del Diablo Circuit Closed at Iguazú National Park: Travel Alert
The closure of the circuit first occurred on Monday, August 3, 2026 and is expected to last 40 days and 40 nights — which is coincidentally similar to the duration of rainfall in the biblical story of Noah’s Ark — in order to temporarily remove the metal floors, railings, and platforms of the walkways of the main attraction in Cataratas. The closure was essential in order to protect the aforementioned infrastructure from the abnormal flooding that is expected to occur and generate the optimal conditions for its subsequent reinstallation.
No established date for the reopening of the circuit has been officially set or declared at the time this article was written.
Both the National Parks Administration and Iguazú Argentina Sociedad Anónima — which is a concessionaire in the area of Iguazú Falls that offers services — report that the remainder of Iguazú National Park is open all year round and continues to provide services as usual.
“The flow rate of the Iguaçu River is at 2.3 million liters of water per second this Tuesday afternoon, August 4th, a volume close to the historical average of 1.5 million liters per second, maintaining normal conditions for visitation”, according to the official Internet web site of Iguaçu National Park Tourism in Brazil. “The removal of the guardrails from the walkway only occurs in specific situations, always after a technical evaluation by the responsible teams. The Urbia+Cataratas teams continuously monitor the conditions of the Iguaçu River to ensure the safety of visitors.”
According to the official Internet web site of Iguazú Argentina, “The decision to close the main attraction of Cataratas…is based on the forecasts and technical analyzes that anticipate floods of the Iguazú River in the coming months, associated with the forecasts of heavy rains produced by the phenomenon of ‘El Niño’. Forecasts estimate that during September and October there will be a high flow, with the potential to generate extraordinary floods.”
Visitors are still invited to experience the falls in Iguazú National Park and “learn about all the biodiversity that inhabits an ecosystem as necessary and special as that of the Paranaense Jungle.”
Garganta del Diablo — which is known in Portuguese as Garganta do Diabo — is a popular attraction in Iguazú National Park as a natural waterfall that is located on the Iguazú River at the border of Brazil and Argentina that is shared by Iguazú National Park in Argentina and Iguaçu National Park in Brazil.
The Devil’s Throat is 82 meters high, 150 meters wide, and extends 700 meters in length. It receives approximately half of the flow of the Iguazú River and is accessible by the Rainforest Ecological Train, whose nearby station is called Garganta.
Final Boarding Call
I enjoyed my visit to Iguazú National Park years ago. The roar of The Devil’s Throat is incredibly loud; and visitors do become wet from its persistent spray.
Although the remainder of Iguazú National Park is certainly worth visiting, hold off on traveling there until Garganta del Diablo is once again open to visitors.
Photograph ©2005 by Brian Cohen.
