Nature
Horton Plains and World's End
A pre-dawn start and a 9 km loop across montane grassland and cloud forest to a 900-metre escarpment drop, returning by Baker's Falls. It is the only national park in Sri Lanka you may walk in on foot.
Mid-range
Hill Country
Horton Plains
Cloud forest, frost hollows, and a 900-metre drop
- Hill Country
- Best Jan–Mar
- 1night suggested
Horton Plains is a high plateau of montane grassland and cloud forest at over 2,000 metres, and the only national park in Sri Lanka you are allowed to walk in unaccompanied. The 9 km circuit takes in Baker's Falls and World's End, where the plateau simply stops and falls away towards the southern plains.
You have to be early. The escarpment clouds over almost every morning between about 9 and 10am, and after that World's End is a view of white. That means leaving Nuwara Eliya or Ohiya around 5am, in the cold and dark.
The loop is well-marked, takes three to four hours at a steady pace, and is not technically difficult, but it is at altitude, the ground is uneven, and it can be close to freezing at the start and hot by the end. Layers, proper shoes and water.
The grassland holds sambar deer in numbers, and the forest patches shelter several endemic birds and the occasional purple-faced langur. Leopards are present and essentially never seen.
There is no accommodation inside the park. Most people stay at Nuwara Eliya, Ohiya or Ella and treat Horton Plains as a long, early day trip. All plastic is checked at the gate and must be carried back out.
Highlights
- World's End before the cloud arrives
- Baker's Falls on the return leg
- Montane cloud forest and sambar deer on the grassland
- The drive up through Ambewela's dairy farms
- Hill Country
- Jan–Mar
- 1 night
Clearest skies January to March. Whatever the month, be at World's End before 9am or the view will be cloud.
Where it is
Horton Plains is in Hill Country.
Getting there & around
Advisory door-to-door estimates for typical road conditions, not live routing output.
Experiences here
Sri Lanka itineraries that visit Horton Plains
- 8 days
Tea, Trains and a Beach Finish
For travellers who would rather walk in tea country than queue at a ruin. Kandy, the high estates around Nuwara Eliya, World's End at dawn, the train down to Ella, and then a fast drop to the south coast for two nights of doing nothing.
- Hill Country
- Wilderness & National Parks
- South Coast
- Stays
- Transport
- Guide
Indicative price band: Mid-range per person.
- 15 days
The Grand Island Loop
The full circuit, unhurried. Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa with time to actually look at them, three nights in the Cultural Triangle, Kandy, the tea country and Horton Plains, the train to Ella, a safari on the way down and three nights on the south coast to finish.
- West Coast
- Cultural Triangle
- Hill Country
- +2
- Stays
- Transport
- Guide
Indicative price band: Premium per person.
Nearby destinations
Put Horton Plains on your trip
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