Cerro Arequita

Cerro Arequita
Cerro Arequita ca. 2011.
Highest point
Elevation	305 m (1,001 ft)
Coordinates	34°17′27″S55°16′01″W / 34.29083°S 55.26694°W / -34.29083; -55.26694
Naming
English translation	Cerro (Hill in Spanish); Arequita (Water falling from the high rock over the caves in Guaraní)
Language of name	Spanish/Guaraní
Geography
Cerro Arequita Uruguay
Location	10 km north of Minas, Lavalleja Department, Uruguay
Parent range	Cuchilla Grande
Geology
Mountain type	Hill
Climbing
Easiest route	Hike

Cerro Arequita, oil painting by Carlos Federico Sáez, 1899.

Cerro Arequita is a hill located in Lavalleja Department, Uruguay.

Overview

Its name is of Guarani origin, meaning "water falling from the high rock over the caves". ^[1]

Since 2024 it is part of the National Park of Arequita, a nature sanctuary full of native species: armadillos, skunks, foxes, Geoffroy's cats, gray brockets, capybaras, river otters, nutrias, bats, chingolos, chalk-browed mockingbirds, dusky-legged guans, turkey vultures, savannah vultures. ^[2]

An endemic epiphyte flowering plant species is Tillandsia arequitae . ^[3]

In art

• Carlos Federico Sáez painted this hill in 1899.
• The Cerro Arequita is featured on both the coat of arms and the flag of Lavalleja Department.

Bibliography

• Araújo, Orestes (2012). Diccionario geográfico del Uruguay (in Spanish). Montevideo.

References

1. Sequeira, Alejandro; Casaubou, Cristina; Olveira, Armando (July 2010). "Arequita" (PDF). Áreas protegidas del Uruguay (in Spanish). 2. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
2. "Áreas protegidas del Uruguay - Parque Arequita" (PDF). El País (in Spanish). 2 July 2010. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
3. "Tillandsia arequitae". Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Retrieved 25 August 2025.