Walking Horton Plains to World’s End

Summary

Horton Plains National Park is a plateau sitting over 2000m / 6500 ft in the centre of Sri Lanka between the 2nd and 3rd highest peaks in the country.  It’s often called out as being one the of highlights of Sri Lanka because of World’s End, a 880m / 2900 ft sharp drop at the end of the walking route, that gives good views of the valley below when the clouds part

I’d probably hold back on calling it a highlight of Sri Lanka though for two reasons – 1. World’s End isn’t all that impressive.  Yes, it’s a drop into the nearby valley, but the valley is fairly basic and not that much better than some of the steep valleys you see in the likes of Ella and even more generally on the train through the Tea Country; 2. The Horton Plains landscape is mild undulating hills with a few small rivers, which is nice, but nothing more than that.  Combine it with the cold and general wet, and you’re getting more autumn Scotland, less tropical Sri Lanka

That being said, it is a nice walk, I really enjoyed it.  Just manage expectations.  A few tips to help:

1. The weather – good and bad. I went in mid December, which is dry season and supposed to be the best chance for clear views … but the hill country is very unpredictable and tends to be wet so it was raining most of the time I was there (bad) … but the plains tend to be clearer than the surrounding areas (good).  I didn’t quite believe this at first, but it was certainly true for me – the whole journey up was super misty and raining, but around 10mins into the walk it cleared up significantly

2. They say go super early. This is for 3 reasons: 1. Chance to see the sunrise; 2. Chance to see leopards – it’s a long shot (although we missed one by 30 seconds as a guy who’d been waiting to see one for 5 days saw one walking along the road at 730am just before us); 3. Better chance of Worlds End being a clear view – you should aim to get there before 830am ish.  So, assuming you’re not bothered about the sunrise, a 6am start from Nawara Eliya is best (1.15hrs drive, 15mins faff with tickets, 1 hour walk from the entrance to Horton Plains to World’s End)

3. The walk – it’s a 9km loop. It’s more strenuous than the guidebooks and locals make out – mostly either uphill or downhill. Very doable in 2hrs quickly or 3 hours if going slow. 13k steps, equivalent of 56 floors climbed 

4. Where to stay – stay in one of the towns nearby such as Nuwara Eliya (see Staying in Nuwara Eliya’s “Little England’), or at a stretch Ella (see The Hill Country Village of Ella) which is a bit further. There is nothing around Horton Plains 

5. Cost (in Dec 2022) – US$40 entrance fee (it says US$25, but in Sri Lanka they tend to add all sorts of extras); transport US$40 (although in sure you could haggle down)