Blessed with salubrious climate, breathtaking views of valleys, meadows, mountains and greenery; it's hard to imagine that Maskeliya is only 120 Km from the hot and humid Colombo.

The Gardens was first established in 1861 under the curatorship of three British of the same name - William Nock, JK Nock and JJ Nock. It lies under the Hakgala Peak, between 5000 - 6000 feet in elevation - the highest set Botanic Gardens in the world. It boasts 100 year old Monetary Cypress trees from California, Japanese Cedars, Himalayan Pines and an English Oaks.

Horton Plains is a National Park and the highest plateau in the island consisting of grassland interspersed with patches of forest, with some unusual high altitude vegetation. The Plains are a beautiful, silent, strange world with some excellent walks.

The most stunning place is the World's End, where the southern Horton Plains suddenly ends, and drops off to nearly 700 Metres, which is an awesome sight indeed. This is a favourite place for trekking, as there are plenty of soft and hard trails

Laksapana Falls rise from the Laksapana estate and plunges into the Maskeliya Oya via Maoussakelle. Viewing this fall is easy if you camp down at Upper Glencairn, Dick oya.

Devon Falls drops 97 metres and is named after Devon, a pioneer coffee planter. It is 6 Km west of Thalawakelle and there is a special parking and viewing spot at the 20th mile post.