Mountain peak
Sri Pada (Adam's Peak)
- Sinhalaශ්රී පාදස්ථානය
- Tamilஸ்ரீ பாத
- Tamilசிவனொளிபாதம்
Preview data The sources, dates, freshness and safety states here are curated examples standing in for EKO's evidence service. None of it is verified EKO knowledge or a record of current conditions, so check locally before relying on it.
- What it is
- Mountain peak
- Where
- Ratnapura District
- Getting to it
- Time of day
- Main season
- December to May, from the Unduvap full moon to the Vesak full moonNot now
Worth knowingSix trails lead up the mountain, with the Hatton-Nallathanni and Ratnapura-Palabaddala routes the most used, and the usual pilgrim route is to climb via Hatton and descend via Ratnapura. The climb is on foot up thousands of steps and takes several hours at least; it is most often made from December to May, since heavy rain, strong wind and thick mist make other months difficult. During the six-month in-season period the trails are lit by electric light, so a night ascent is possible, and rest stops and wayside shops sell refreshments. April is the peak pilgrimage season, and the aim is to be at the summit at sunrise, when the mountain's triangular shadow can be seen moving across the plain below.
Why would you go?
Sri Pada, also called Adam's Peak, is a 2,243-metre conical mountain in central Sri Lanka, a pilgrimage site known for a footprint-like rock formation near its summit.
Several religious traditions revere the mountain, each reading the footprint-like mark differently: Buddhists take it to be the Buddha's footprint, Sri Lankan Hindus attribute it to Shiva or Hanuman, and some Muslims and Christians to Adam or St Thomas the Apostle. It is also held to be home to the deity Saman, and a shrine to him stands near the footprint. It stands in the southern Central Highlands, about 40 km northeast of Ratnapura and 32 km southwest of Hatton, and is the source of the Kelani, Walawe and Kalu Ganga rivers. The Mahawamsa chronicle mentions the Buddha's visit to the peak, and the traveller Ibn Battuta climbed it in the 14th century, while Lieutenant William Malcolm made the first ascent by an Englishman in 1815.
Is it safe and can you get to it?
Getting to it
EKOEKO curationLast checked August 2026
When should you go?
Pilgrimage season
December to May, from the Unduvap full moon to the Vesak full moon
What it is like
The stairway is lit through the night, tea houses along the ascent are open, and full-moon days are very crowded.OfficialDistrict pilgrimage season noticeLast checked December 2025
Out of seasonNow
June to November
What it is like
Lights off, tea houses shut, and the south-west monsoon putting rain and cloud on the western approaches. The climb is still walked, in the dark, with what you carry.EKOEKO curationLast checked August 2026
Time of day
EKOEKO curationLast checked August 2026
How do you get there?
EKO has a recorded route here but can't show its stages yet.
Reported route · unconfirmed
No departure is confirmed. Check on the day.
Freshness not assessed · retrieved October 2026
Stage 1
This service reaches the town, but EKO doesn't know yet where exactly it stops.
Ask locally about this part of the journey.
Why EKO says this route · 1 source
SourceWikivoyage contributors, "Nuwara Eliya", revision 5373945 (2026-09-29), https://en.wikivoyage.org/w/index.php?title=Nuwara_Eliya&oldid=5373945, CC BY-SA 4.0· This route · Supports this
Retrieved October 2026· Freshness not assessed
Source note: A bus connection from Hatton to Dalhousie (Nallathanniya) as a travel guide reports it: regular buses, with no stand, time, operator or route. It is not stated to be a direct service without a change, nor the only way; buses from Maskeliya to Dalhousie are also reported and are not recorded here.
Preparing the map…
No source stated the accuracy of this position. It is good enough to find the place and not good enough to navigate by.
The map shows where Sri Pada (Adam's Peak) is. The journey is not drawn.
Which way up?
2 routes
On foot
Nallathanniya route
The route reaches this place as its summit.
Can it be walked now?
Nobody has recorded whether this route may be walked. Read that as silence, not as permission.
Not recorded
EKO has a mapped corridor for this route. Nothing on record says how reliable the source is.
Roughly where the path runs, not a precise line to follow step by step.
Nobody has established whether it covers the whole way up.
Corridor from OpenStreetMap contributors, under ODbL-1.0.
Preparing the route map…
EKO holds no distance, time, ascent or difficulty for this route. None has been recorded, so none is shown.
Why EKO calls it this · 1 source
This is the name a source records, and nothing on record says how reliable that source is.
SourceSri Lanka Tourism· Supports this
Retrieved September 2026
On foot
Palabaddala route
The route reaches this place as its summit.
Can it be walked now?
Nobody has recorded whether this route may be walked. Read that as silence, not as permission.
Not recorded
No line has been recorded for this route, so there is nothing to draw and nothing to follow on a map.
EKO holds no distance, time, ascent or difficulty for this route. None has been recorded, so none is shown.
Why EKO calls it this · 1 source
This is the name a source records, and nothing on record says how reliable that source is.
SourceSri Lanka Tourism· Supports this
Retrieved September 2026
What should you know first?
Before you go
Six trails lead up the mountain, with the Hatton-Nallathanni and Ratnapura-Palabaddala routes the most used, and the usual pilgrim route is to climb via Hatton and descend via Ratnapura. The climb is on foot up thousands of steps and takes several hours at least; it is most often made from December to May, since heavy rain, strong wind and thick mist make other months difficult. During the six-month in-season period the trails are lit by electric light, so a night ascent is possible, and rest stops and wayside shops sell refreshments. April is the peak pilgrimage season, and the aim is to be at the summit at sunrise, when the mountain's triangular shadow can be seen moving across the plain below.
It is a place of worship
This is an active place of worship, not a viewpoint with a temple on it. Shoulders and knees covered, shoes off near the summit shrine, and the queue at the footprint is a queue of people who came a long way to stand in it.
It is cold at the top
The summit is 2,243 m and you arrive at it having stopped moving, in the dark, before dawn. People who carry one warm layer regret carrying one warm layer.
The way down
The descent is the part that hurts. Several thousand steps downhill on tired legs is what ends up in the following day.
Full-moon days
On full-moon (poya) days in season the stairway can queue for hours. If the climb matters more to you than the occasion, pick any other night.
What you carry up
Everything carried up is carried down. The mountain is a watershed for the plains below it, and the tea houses are not a waste service.
Local and cultural context
Buddhists read the summit footprint as the Buddha, Hindus as Shiva, Muslims and Christians as Adam and as Saint Thomas. All four walk the same stairway on the same nights. First-time pilgrims wear a white headband and are given way to, and the summit bell is traditionally struck once for each ascent you have made.
Where can you sleep?
Not a hotel list. These are the kinds of place people actually stay around Sri Pada, read against how you are travelling.
Guesthouses
Nallathanniya trailhead guesthouses
Where
At the foot of the stairway, minutes from the first steps.EKOEKO curationLast checked August 2026
Price
Not recorded Nobody has recorded this. Somebody local will know.
Booking
Mostly walk-in. In season and on poya weekends the village fills.CommunityTraveller reportsLast checked July 2026
WorksBackpackerWalk in, sleep, start at two in the morning.
6 other travel modes
- WorksHikingThe obvious base for a night ascent.
- WorksBikepackingBikes generally kept inside. The road up is the hard part, not the bed.
- With limitsMotorcycleParking is informal, and EKO has nothing recorded about secure overnight space.
- With limitsVanVillage parking is tight and unmarked. Nothing is recorded about sleeping in a vehicle here.
- Does not workMotorhomeNo access and no turning space for a large unit.
- Does not workCaravanThe approach road rules this out before the village does.
CommunityTraveller reports
Town
Maskeliya town stays
Where
About 20 km back down the road from the trailhead.EKOEKO curation
Price
Not recorded Nobody has recorded this. Somebody local will know.
Booking
Not recorded Nobody has recorded this. Somebody local will know.
WorksBackpackerMore beds and more buses than the trailhead has.
One other travel mode
- With limitsVanA town rather than a stopping place. Nothing recorded about overnight parking.
EKOEKO curation
Homestays
Tea estate homestays
Listed only — EKO does not publish a position for this.
Where
Scattered along the Maskeliya road between the town and the trailhead.CommunityTraveller reports
Price
Not recorded Nobody has recorded this. Somebody local will know.
Booking
Not recorded Nobody has recorded this. Somebody local will know.
WorksBackpackerUsually arranged in person or by telephone rather than online.
CommunityTraveller reports
Informal camping
Informal camping on the estate slopes
Listed only — EKO does not publish a position for this.
Where
Not published EKO holds this and does not publish it. EKO holds reported spots and does not publish where they are.
Price
Does not apply Nothing is charged for it, because nothing is arranged.
Booking
Does not apply There is nothing to book.
EKO has nothing recorded about this for Backpacker. That is a gap, not an all-clear.
4 other travel modes
- With limitsHikingPossible, and it is worked land with people living on it. Ask first.
- With limitsBikepackingPossible, and it is worked land with people living on it. Ask first.
- Does not workMotorhomeNo vehicle access to any of it.
- Does not workCaravanNo vehicle access to any of it.
CommunityTraveller reports
What is nearby?
Water
Tea houses on the ascent
Along the Nallathanniya stairway
Availability
Open through the pilgrimage season and shut outside it.This is past the point where EKO would want it checked again. It is shown because it is the only answer there is.
OfficialDistrict pilgrimage season noticeNot checked recently · 11 months ago
Cash
Cash machines
Hatton and Maskeliya
Availability
Present in both towns. Nothing is recorded at the trailhead itself.EKOEKO curationLast checked August 2026
Pharmacy
Pharmacy at the trailhead
Nallathanniya
Availability
Unknown A source has looked into this and says it is not known.
Fuel
Fuel
Maskeliya and Hatton
Availability
Both towns. Nothing recorded on the trailhead road itself.EKOEKO curation
Mobile signal
Mobile signal on the ascent
Nallathanniya stairway
Availability
Not recorded Nobody has recorded this. Somebody local will know.
What does EKO not know?
Named rather than left out. A missing answer changes a plan as much as a present one does, and it is better to know which questions to ask when you arrive.
Not published Where people camp informally
EKO holds reported informal camp spots on the estate slopes and does not publish where they are. Publishing them concentrates use on a handful of fragile sites, and the land is worked and lived on rather than public.
Not recorded Step-free access
Nobody has recorded whether any step-free approach to the summit exists. EKO is not assuming that means there is none.
Unknown Current conditions on each way up
EKO has looked for a current condition report on each way up this mountain and holds none. What it holds about conditions is seasonal — how the mountain differs in the pilgrimage season and outside it — rather than the state of any one of the ways up today.
Not recorded What any of it costs
No fare or price has been recorded for any way here or stay on this page. There is no cost here that EKO could stand behind.
If you lose signal
Needs a connection
- Name, position and type
- How to get here
- Safety notes
- Routes and conditions
- Season windows
- What to know before going
- Sources and dates
- Map tiles
- Anything newer than your last visit
Save this place for offline use to keep the place, how to get there, its routes and the map on this device. Safety information and anything newer need a connection.
8 sources
Everything on this page traces to one of these. Conditions change; a date is what EKO knows, not a guarantee.
- OfficialDistrict pilgrimage season noticeLast checked December 2025
- EKOEKO curationLast checked August 2026
- CommunityTraveller reportsLast checked July 2026
- Sourcerepository governed registerLast checked October 2026
- SourceWikidata contributorsLast checked October 2026
- SourceWikipedia contributorsLast checked October 2026
- SourceWikipedia contributorsLast checked October 2026
- SourceWikipedia contributorsLast checked October 2026