Horton Plains National Park is situated in the Central Province of Sri Lanka of Nuwara Eliya District, midway between Nuwara Eliya and Haputale. Located east of the Upper Montane Forest Range of Central Highland of Sri Lanka. Set at an elevation of over two thousand metres, Horton Plains are a world apart from the rest of Sri Lanka, a misty and rainswept landscape whose cool, wet climate has fostered the growth of a unique but fragile ecosystem.
Prior to the British rule in the country, this area was called Maha Eliya, then around 1820s the British came to know about this unique nature resource. It was later renamed as Horton Plains after the then British Governor Sir Robert Horton (Governor from 1832-1837). The ‘plains’ themselves are covered by wild grasslands, rocky outcrops, filigree waterfalls and misty lakes. The surprising diversity of the landscape is matched by the wide variety of wildlife. The park’s most notable residents are its herds of sambar deer, while you might see rare bear-faced monkeys.
The Plains are also one of the island’s most important watersheds and the source of the Mahaweli, Kelani and Walawe rivers, three of the island’s largest.
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