Situated in the southern plateau of the central hills, is the one of the two highland National Parks of the country and a famous tourist destination for its wildlife and enchanting natural beauty. Falling within the Central Province, Horton Plains is about 200km from Colombo with Nuwera Eliya being the nearest city. Known as Maha Eliya in Sinhalese or Great Plain, it was named Horton Plains after the British Governor Sir Robert Wilmot Horton (1831-37). On 5^th December 1969 it was designated a Nature Reserve and on 16^th March 1988 it received National Park status covering an area of 3,159.8 hectares.

Situated 2,300 meters above sea level this montane grassland receives rainfall throughout the year with an annual fall of 2,540mm. Annual mean temperature falls at 15 C but can reach up to 27 C during the day and fall as low as 5 C during the night. This vast plain of montane grasslands is scattered with montane cloud forests of dazzling colours along with its stunning topographical layout. The Park is home to the country’s second and third highest mountains, Kirigalpotha (2,398m) and Thotupolakanda (2,351m) respectively which are famous hiking destinations and also one the Park’s signature sites is the ‘World End’ a 700m drop giving a stunning view of the valley below and the beautiful Bakers Falls. Horton Plains also contains a rich diversity in flora with 5% of the species found to be endemic.

Apart from its natural beauty Horton Plains also teems with wildlife and this highland wonderland is home to 24 species of mammals with the most common being the Sambhur with numbers over 1500. Other mammals include the Leopard, the Fishing Cat, the endangered Loris, and Giant Squirrel etc. The Park is also famous for bird watching with 14 endemics found within the park. Other animals include about 15 species of amphibians and several species of reptiles including the endemic Horned Lizard. Another unique species found here is the Purple Faced Leaf Monkey which is threatened with extinction and also one species of endemic freshwater Shrimp which is found only in Horton Plains.

Recent research has found that Horton Plains was inhabited by prehistoric man with evidence of barley cultivation as far as 10,000 BP when the climate was much warmer during the Pleistocene epoch.

Main attractions:

• The Sri Lankan Sambhur (Cervus unicolour unicolour)
• Kirigalpoththa and Thotupola Mountains
• World’s End
• Bakers Falls

Best Season:

Routes: The Park has two entrances, one at Pattipola and the other at Ohiya, these two could be reached by two main routes. All distances are from Colombo.

• Route 01 – Colombo -> Nuwera Eliya -> Ambewala -> Pattipola – 188 km.
• Route 02 – Colombo -> Haputale -> Welimada -> Ohiya – 223 km.

Route 03 – Colombo -> Nuwera Eliya -> Hakgala -> Rendapola -> Ambewala and Pattipola