An early morning guided walk across the extraordinary high-altitude plateau of Horton Plains National Park at 2,100 metres – following the circular cloud forest trail to World’s End, a sheer 900-metre escarpment with views across the southern lowlands, and Baker’s Falls on the return. Most rewarding before 7am when the mist is low and the plateau belongs to the sambar deer.
Full Day
World’s End Escarpment
A sheer 900-metre cliff edge at the southern boundary of the plateau with views across the southern lowlands extending to the coastal plains on a clear day – one of the most dramatic viewpoints in Sri Lanka.
Baker’s Falls
A beautiful waterfall on the return section of the circular trail, set in a densely forested ravine with the cloud forest canopy overhead – a perfect mid-walk rest point in the cool highland air.
Cloud Forest Trail
A circular trail of approximately nine kilometres through extraordinary cloud forest habitat with endemic birds, montane grasses and the particular atmospheric quality of high-altitude Sri Lanka in the early morning.
Horton Plains Endemic Birds
The plateau supports several highland endemic bird species including the Sri Lanka whistling thrush and the dull-blue flycatcher, most active in the early morning hours on the forest margins.
Sambar Deer and Highland Wildlife
Large sambar deer graze openly on the plateau grassland in the early morning in a way unusual for a normally cautious species – a tangible sign of how undisturbed this high-altitude ecosystem genuinely is.
