Horton Plains is located on the southern plateau of the central highlands of Sri Lanka. The peaks of Kirigalpoththa (2,389 m (7,838 ft)) and Thotupola Kanda (2,357 m (7,733 ft)), the second and the third highest of Sri Lank… See more

The original name of the area was Maha Eliya Thenna (මහ එළිය තැන්න - "great open plain"). But in the British period the plains were renamed after Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton, the British governor of Ceylon from … See more

The vegetation of the park is classified into two distinctive groups, 2,000 ha (7.7 sq mi) of wet patna (Sinhalese: patana, montane grasslands and shrublands) and 1,160 ha (4.5 sq mi) of subtropical montane evergreen forests. … See more

The vertebrate fauna of the region includes 24 species of mammals, 87 species of birds, nine species of reptiles and eight species of amphibians. The Sri Lankan elephant disappeared from the region in the 1940s at th… See more

Horton Plains was a part of a large system of plains and forest cover that included Agra-Bopats, Moon Plains and Elk Plains. Between 1831 and 1948, it became a Sambar deer hunting ground. Elephants and Wild b… See more