At an altitude of 2100m, the Horton Plains National Park is one of the best places in Sri Lanka to connect with nature. The summits of Sri Lanka’s 2nd and 3rd highest mountains, Kirigalpoththa (2389m) to the west and Thotupola Kanda (2357m) to the north respectively borders the rich biodiversity of the park. To the south, the park comes to an end at a steep cliff about 4000ft deep called the Worlds End, a scenic view point on the parks trekking path. The high elevation, the fog and clouds leave behind a considerable amount of moisture in the land making the plains the headwaters of important rivers such as the Mahaweli, Kelani, and Walawe and many other secondary rivers. The flora of the park is categorized into two unique groups, 2000 hectares of wet montane grassland and 1160 hectares of subtropical montane evergreen forests. Nearly 750 species of plants belonging to 20 families have been documented from the park. The vibrant fauna of the region consist of 24 species of mammals including the Sri Lankan sambar deer (Rusa Unicolor Unicolor), 87 species of birds, 9 species of reptiles and 8 species of amphibians. Stone tools dating back to the Balangoda culture have been found in the area proving it to be the area was inhabited by humans in the prehistoric ages. The park was named after Governor Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton (1831 – 1837 AD) from its original name Maha Eliya Thenna. It was titled a national park in 1988. Today the Horton Plains are part of the central highlands of Sri Lanka, a natural UNESCO world heritage site named in 2010.
