Horton Plains National Park

The famous Horton Plains is a nature reserve characterized by a beautiful landscape of rolling hills, forests, and grassland. The highest plateau on the island, spanning approximately 10,000 hectares, is home to 24 species of mammal – such as elk, deer, giant squirrel, wild boar, wild hare, porcupine, and leopard. The park also hosts unique vegetation and offers a perfect ground to observe many rare and endemic highland birds (87 species, 14 of which are endemic). An impressive physical feature in Horton Plains is the escarpment that falls 880 meters to the lowlands of the southern region of the island. Aptly known as the “World’s End”, the precipice boasts a fabulous view of the tea estates below and all the way out to the distant southern coastline.

Horton Plains, or ‘Mahaeliya’ as it is traditionally named, is a popular weekend destination amongst locals. Therefore, we recommend visiting the park on a weekday when it is more peaceful.

Climate and Vegetation in Horton Plains National Park

The Horton Plains are located on Sri Lanka’s highest plateau, between altitudes of 2,000 and 2, 300m. The landscape consists of undulating lands covered with tropical clouds of forests or verdant montane savannah grasslands, locally known as patannahs.

The best time to visit is early in the morning when the sky is the clearest and you can enjoy the best of the views. In the afternoons, clouds tend to descend and the area becomes submerged in mist. This is equally enthralling though and provides evidence for the evolution of this forest type. Allowing a half-day should give you plenty of time to enjoy it all at a leisurely pace.

History and Wildlife

Horton Plains were named after Sir Robert Wilmot Horton, a rather selfish and bloody-minded Brit who was singularly responsible for the slaying of all of the elephants in the area between 1831 to 1837. Although there is little hope of elephants ever returning, you may walk around admiring the many other interesting creatures around and about.

These highlands are home to one of Sri Lanka’s least known mammals, the mouse deer. For many years, it was believed that the mouse deer found in Sri Lanka was the same species as in Southern India. In June 2005, Colin Groves a British taxonomist published a paper in a special supplement (No 12) of The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology whereby he distinguished three species of mouse-deer from Sri Lanka and India. The Indian mouse-deer (Moschiola indica) was split as a new species and is considered now endemic to the Eastern Ghats of India. Also, the mouse-deer found in Sri Lanka was split into two new species: the white-spotted mouse-deer found (Moshiola meeminna) in the dry zone of Sri Lanka and the yellow-striped mouse-deer (Moschiola kathygre) found in the wet zone. Both species are endemic to Sri Lanka. Presently, this raised the number of endemic mammals found in Sri Lanka to eighteen species.

In his paper on mouse deer from India and Sri Lanka, Colin Groves stated also that “a single skull from Sri Lanka’s Hill Zone may prove to represent a fourth species”. The ‘mountain mouse-deer is evidently a very scarce animal. Most of the field staff in Horton Plains National Park had not seen one although they regularly encounter other nocturnal mammals including leopards.

In February 2008, a mountain mouse-deer was seen in quite exceptional circumstances by the wildlife populariser Gehan de Silva Wijerathne and Nadeera Weerasinghe, a naturalist at St. Andrew’s Hotel. With permission from WLDC, it was temporally held captive for research and observation purposes and released back to the wild 2 days later.

“Worlds End” and Bakers Falls Trail

Other than the gorgeous weather, flora and fauna of Horton Plains, one of the most popular activities are the hiking trail covering the endpoint of the mini world, great worlds endpoint and Bakers Falls. Once you reach Horton plains you can visit the “Worlds End” which is a 4000 feet straight vertical drop. This is of course a 4-kilometre hike from the trailhead on a beautiful path. This drop can be covered with mist most of the time and the best time to be up at the world’s end is towards the afternoon. Or you can just see Bakers Falls which is about 3.3 kilometres from the trailhead.

This is essentially a circular trail which ends at the trail start. Therefore you can start from any direction and travel 9.4 km and return to the trailhead. The trail starts from the checkpoint by the authorities for permits and banned items such as liquor, cigarettes and lighters. Travelling on more or less flat ground for 600 meters will bring you to the circular path which you can hike clockwise or anticlockwise.

Taking the anticlockwise path will first bring you to Baker’s Fall after 2.6 km. Then you need to move off the track and climb down a rocky and uneven path for about 700 meters to reach the viewing platform. Then you need to get back to the track and continue for a further 2km to reach Worlds End, a sheer cliff, with a drop of about 4,000 feet (1,200 m).

You will go off the trail for about 100 meters to reach the viewing platform which will give a spectacular view even up to the Indian Ocean which lies 81 km away on a clear day.

Getting back to the trail and travelling another kilometre will bring you to the “Mini Worlds End” which is another viewpoint which is a smaller cliff with a 1,000 feet (300 m) drop. Walking another 1.75 km will bring you to the beginning of the loop from where you need to take the same path back to the checkpoint.