Horton Plains has been a nature reserve since 1969 and became a National Park in 1988. In common with other Sri Lankan forests growing above an altitude of 5000ft, it has in fact received some protection since 1873 on the advice of the botanist Sir Joseph Hooker. The undulating plateau is bounded by the country's second and third highest mountains and is the catchment area for most of its major rivers.

This is the only National Park in Sri Lanka in which visitors are allowed to walk. At 'Worlds End' the 2000 metre plateau comes to an abrupt end, plunging 700-1000 metres to the valley floor. This gentle walk takes two to four hours depending on how much time is spent identifying the impressive bird life seen along this route. It is worth starting early to avoid the crowds, the mist that drifts up the valley can often obscure the views as the day wears on. 'Little Worlds End' is another popular location, falling a mere 300 metres, along with Baker's Falls.

The plains appear to have a lot more in common with the moors and highlands of Britain than with the rest of Sri Lanka's National Parks. The extensive grasslands are bleached brown by the frosts at this altitude and the herds of sambar are reminiscent of red deer roaming the Scottish Glens. This large sambar population, along with the Purple-Faced langurs, wild boar and barking deer support a small number of leopards, although seeing them requires a huge amount of luck. Your best chance is offered by driving around the park late in the evening and listening for the alarm calls of the sambar.

This is also one of the top destinations for birders who visit the area to look for several of Sri Lanka's endemics; these include the Yellow Eared Bulbul, the Ceylon Hill White Eye, Ceylon Whistling Thrush and the Ceylon Blue Magpie. The diversity of vegetation is also impressive from grasses to ferns, shrubs and large flowering trees. The montane forest is very distinctive with all the trees reaching a similar height to protect themselves against excessive precipitation, the western slopes support the most extensive area of cloud forest in the country.

Annual rainfall is high with the area being affected by both monsoons as well as the inter-monsoonal periods, it is driest between January and March. The temperatures are considerably cooler than low lying areas. The tea growing area of Nuwara Eliya is a convenient base for visiting the park, and Kandy or Yala can be reached within a half day's scenic drive from here.