Deanston – marvelous vantage point in Knuckles Range By Arundathie Abeysinghe

Deanston – marvelous vantage point in Knuckles Range

By Arundathie Abeysinghe

Deanston

Contents

Arundathie Abeysinghe Sri Lanka is a small island state in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), similar to a droplet of water. Despite being a small island, it is endowed with a diverse collection of landscapes, climates, awe-inspiring vistas which have enticed tourists for decades.

Sri Lanka is arguably one of the most spectacular places in the world, a tiny island of 9,833,517 square kilometers, yet, has a diverse range of breathtaking landscapes from awe-inspiring misty mountains and cliffs, carpets of verdant tea plantations, spectacular cascades, lush forests and pristine beaches…

There are many spectacular viewpoints in Sri Lanka with several precipices offering breathtaking vistas of the surrounding area and valleys, in addition to popular World’s End and Mini World’s End at *Horton Plains. Mini World’s Ends at *Little Adam’s Peak in Ella and *Hulangala in Selagama are such viewpoints with awe-inspiring views.

A charming hiking destination situated off the beaten path, Deanston is the location of a Forest Department Conservation Centre, also known as Knuckles Information Centre.

It is necessary to buy a ticket from the ticket counter to enter the trail towards the view point and the distance of the trail is approximately 1.2 kilometers to the first view point with a climb of approximately 60 meters. The trail starts with a crossing of a small stream and a pond with some resting places and a pine forest. The trail is breathtaking due to the nature of pine trees, although, birds are rarely found in the forest adjoining the trail. The road splits into two after a few meters and leads to two viewpoints. The right turn followed by the downward slope leads to the view point offering panoramic vistas of Ududumbara town, Kandy-Mahiyangana Road and Kalugala. As the path is circular, after continuing on the same route for 180 meters, the viewpoint two can also be reached easily.

Deanston is the starting point for a hike to a magnificent vantage point in *Knuckles Mountain Range in Sri Lanka’s central highlands. The spectacular vistas from Mini World’s End are breathtaking.

As Deanston is not a popular tourist destination, only few foreign tourists visit the location as most guidebooks have not mentioned this magnificent location. Hence, only a few foreign tourists have found their way to Deanston, until now, although, some tourists cross it on their way to *Corbett’s Gap and *Meemure that are considered as Sri Lanka’s best trekking areas. Hence, the location is not as crowded as the World’s End at Horton Place.

Directions: To reach Deanston, it is necessary to travel approximately seven kilometers towards *Meemure from *Hunnasgiriya. A bus operates on this route from Hunnasgiriya to Loolwatta which leaves Hunnasgiriya around 8 a.m. daily and return from Loolwatta around 9.30 am. Apart from this bus, there is a private van operating up to Meemure. Tourists can also travel in a trishaw, a popular mode of travel in Sri Lanka. The road distance from Kandy is approximately 60 kilometers and it is necessary to travel along A 26 Road from *Mahiyangana via *Tedeniya. At the highest point of the mountain road, at Hunnasgiriya, turn left and travel on the side road to Corbett’s Gap and Meemure. The first 10 kilometers of this side road are in a good condition, although, the latter part of the trail is not in a good condition.

Take only photos… Leave only footprints…

Hunnasgiriya Mountain Range – Located within Central Province. Hunnasigiriya is is in the southern part of the Knuckles Mountain Range and one of the entering points to the Knuckles massif. It is a 1184 meters peak famous for amazing views. The lower slopes of the Mountain are covered by tea plantation and sub-montane forest.
Knuckles Mountain Range – Situated in Kandy and Matale Districts, at a height of about 914 meters above sea level with a land area of around 21 hectares, Knuckles Mountain Range has a total of 35 peaks which rise above 900 meters. British Surveyors called this Mountain Range “Knuckles Mountain Range” as the range resembles a clenched fist. There are 35 peaks in the Mountain Range and it is the highest aggregation of such peaks in a single mountain range in Sri Lanka. Knuckles Mountain Range is also known as “Dumbara Valley” as the breathtaking valley around Knuckles massif is always misty. Hence, it is known as “Dumbara” in Sinhala meaning mist engulfed. The region is blessed with unique fauna and flora with intermittent rains and water cascading from surrounding streams. The area above Knuckles Mountain Range was declared a climatic reserve, a conservation forest and a National Biosphere Reserve due to its unique unparalleled bio diversity.
Mahiyangana – A town situated in Badulla District of Uva Province of Sri Lanka.
Teldeniya – Situated approximately 20 kilometers from Kandy was submerged during the construction of the *Victoria Dam.
Victoria Dam – Located in Teldeniya, Victoria Dam is an arch dam is named in honor of Queen Victoria, former Empress of the British Empire. Its main purposes are irrigation and hydroelectric power production. Victoria dam is a concrete structure with a double curving arch. The United Kingdom provided funds for the construction of the Dam. It was declared open on April 14, 1985. The journey to the dam is approximately an hour from Kandy City.