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Trail Difficulty: Easy | Moderate | Strenuous | Tough

Trail Head: Horton Plains Visitor Centre

Nearest Town: Pattipola                        Nearest City: Nanu-Oya

Access to Trail head: Horton Plains Trail Map | More about Horton Plains National Park

Route to Horton Plains Visitor Center

Route1: Colombo-> Awissawella -> Dehiowita -> Karawanella -> Kitulgala -> Ginigathhena -> Hatton -> Thalawakele -> Nanu-Oya -> Ambewela -> Pattipola -> Pattipola Entrance -> Visitor centre (approximately 210KM)

Horton Plains visitor centre is accessible by any kind of a vehicle which is not very long

Trail End: Circular Trail, ends at the trail head               Total Length: 8.0km

Elevation Gain: Negligible (Elevation at lowest point: 2058m | Elevation at highest point: 2149m)

Approximate time: 4 – 5 hours

Hiking Season: Best months are February to April. July to September is also fairly dry. Avoid monsoon months.

Permit Required: YES. Permit can be obtained from either Pattipola Entrance or Ohiya Entrance ofHortonPlainsNational Park

Baker’s fall, World’s End & Mini-world’s End circular trail is the most traveled trail in the Horton Plains National Park as it covers the three most popular attractions of this National park namely, the Baker’s fall – A beautiful Cascade of water, the world’s end – a 2000 meters deep escarpment and the mini-world’s end which is a smaller drop compared to the main escarpment.

0 to 2.6km:  The trail starts off from the visitor centre (waypoint: BW01). AS you set off, you will have to climb down few steps and get on to the wide dirt track winding through the plains (waypoint: BW02). Start walking along this track through the vast plain. For the next 500m you will be slowly climbing up to the junction where the circular portion of the trail begins (waypoint: BW03).

From this junction you can take either of the branches and return on the other. This trail guide takes you through the right hand branch first.

From the junction, as you walk along the right hand side branch, you will start climbing down through the plain towards a stream. This stream is one of the main tributaries of Belohul-Oya which in turn feeds the WalaweRiver. As you walk about 500m from the junction, you can see a narrower trail towards your right hand side (waypoint: BW04). This is the trail to the camp sites. Continue along the main trail to your left.

As you walk about 100m more, you will see a beautiful pond/pool with a small man-made bunt (waypoint: BW05). This is called “The Chimny Pool”. Passing the Chimny pool, continue to walk along the trail through the plain. This section of the trail goes along the stream. Some times it gets quite close to the stream and then starts to move away from it. About 2km from the trail head, you will see an “L” shape pool in the stream (waypoint: BW06). This is called “The Leg of the Mutton” pool.

Passing BW06 continue to walk along the plain. You will notice that the trail slowly move away from the stream and approach the forest. At about 600m from the Leg of the Mutton pool, the trail enters the forest patch (waypoint: BW08).

2.6 to 5.7 km:  Up to the point of entering the forest patch, the trail is almost flat and smooth. As you enter the forest path a some what rough section of the trail starts.

As you descend about 100m through the forest from the point you entered the forest, you will see a trail with a steep climb down towards your right (waypoint: BW09). This is the trail to Baker’s falls. Walk down this foot path to first reach the baker’s falls observation deck (waypoint: BW10) and then you can climb further down to the base of the water fall (waypoint: BW11). You have to then walk back up to BW09 to continue to the world’s end. As you walk about another 100m from BW09 the trail will come out of the forest patch and again enters the plain (waypoint: BW12).

As you come out of the forest patch you have to walk about 1.7 km along the plain to reach the World’s End observation deck (waypoint: BW13) at the edge of the highest plateau of Sri Lanka.

Leaving the World’s End observation deck, the trail then becomes a narrow foot path through the forest for the next 1km. At the end of this 1km walk through the forest, along the narrow trail, you again reach the edge of the plateau at a point known as the Mini World’s End (waypoint: BW14)

5.7 to 8.0 km:  From the Mini World’s End, your return journey starts again through the forest. From Mini World’s End, the return trail is a broad dirt track. In the first 1km from the Mini World’s end, there are several sections where the trail have been quite badly washed away making it some what difficult to walk. After this initial rough section of the trail, the conditions under foot will improve. In another 500m, the trail comes out from the forest and reaches the plain again (waypoint: BW16). Another 300m walk through the plain will take you back to the junction where the trail split in to the two branches (waypoint: BW17/BW03). After a walk down along the broad trail for another 500m, you will be back at the visitor centre (waypoint: BW18/BW01).

Tips, Notes & special remarks:

• The weather can change quite fast, especially in the after noon. It can get pretty cold and windy in the plains. Make sure that you are prepared with warm cloths.
• Even though you pass several water sources up to the Baker’s falls, there are no water sources for about 5km from there. There fore carry a small water bottle.
• Don’t start walking this trail after 2 p.m., especially if you are accompanied by children/elderly persons. As sun goes down thick mist and darkness can make this trail quite hazardous.

Way Points