SLT RAINBOW PAGES

Horton Plains

The park covers an area of 3,160 hectares of montane grassland fringed and interspersed with patches of dense montane cloud forests. This park and the adjoining Peak Wilderness form the most important catchment area for almost all the major rivers in the country. Three major rivers including the longest, Mahaveli (335km), Kelani and Walawe originate from the within the park itself. Kirigalpotta (2,389m) and Thotupalakanda (2,357m) being the second and the third highest mountains in the country respectively are situated within this park. This is also the highest plateau of the country, being above 5,000 feet, and the western slopes of the park support the most extensive area of montane cloud forests surviving in the country. The park comes under the purview of the Department of Wildlife Conservation and a permit is required to enter the park. There are motorable roads as well as footpaths to different locations in the park including the popular "World's End" as referred by locals, which is a vertical drop of 884m, and the picturesque Bakers falls etc. Most of the species of hill birds can be easily seen here during any walk in the park which is through forested areas, grasslands and streams. A walk to the "worlds end" is also through pristine hill bird habitat. There are bungalows as well as camp sites inside the park which have to be pre-booked with the DWLC.

How to get there:-1)  Colombo - Avissawella - Hatton - Nanuoya - Ambewela - Pattipola - Horton Plains. 2) Colombo - Ratnapura - Pelmadulla - Balangoda - Haputale - Boralanda - Ohiya - Horton Plains (6 1/2 hours).

BIRDS:  Ceylon Warbler, Ceylon Whistling Thrush, Ceylon Wood Pigeon, Dusky Blue Flycatcher, Scaly Thrush, Spotted-winged Thrush, Ceylon Rufus Babbler, Ceylon Blue Magpie, Ceylon Hill White Eye, Pied Bush Chat, Kashmir Red-Breasted Flycatcher, Common Buzzard Brown Baza, Yellow-Eared Bulbul, Black-Winged Kite, Black Eagle, Mountain Hawk Eagle etc.

Related Articles

Sigiriya Sanctuary

King Kashyapa built his rock fortress in the 5th century so as to have a bird's eye view of approaching enemies. Today, from its summit it is birds an...

Anavilundawa Bird Sanctuary

he Anawilundawa Wetland Sanctuary is located between Chilaw and Puttalam, approximately a 1 hour drive from The Mudhouse. For some reason, Anawilundaw...

Knuckles Wilderness

The Knuckles Range was declared as a conservation forest in year 2000 and subsequently, as a National Man and Biosphere Reserve. The Knuckles range a...

Gal-Oya National Park Sanctuary

Gal Oya National Park in Sri Lanka was established in 1954 and serves as the main catchment area for Senanayake Samudraya, the largest reservoir in Sr...

Chilaw Sandspits

hilaw Rest House and go along the coast road to reach the sand spit. Towards the end the surface of the road becomes very sandy and thus it is advisab...

Kumana-Yala East National Park

The Kumana National Park, also known as Yala East National Park is located in the Ampara district of south-east of Sri Lanka at a distance of 391 kilo...

Kalametiya Sanctuary

Kalametiya is an extensive area of wetland with brackish lagoons, mangrove swamps, open grassy areas and pockets of scrub jungle. It is an important s...

Bundala National Park Sanctuary

Bundala National Park is an internationally important wintering ground for migratory water birds in Sri Lanka. Bundala harbors 197 species of birds, t...

View all Articles