If you’re looking for the most adventurous and challenging way to reach the sacred peak of Sri Pada, the Dahanakanda / Mukkuwaththa Trail is the one.
This is the longest and hardest route to Sri Pada — but also one of the most peaceful and untouched trails. If you love quiet forests, wild nature, and a real adventure, this route will give you an amazing experience. But you must be well prepared.
How to Get to the Dahanakanda / Mukkuwaththa Trailhead 🚍
- From Rathnapura Bus Stand, the first bus to Mukkuwaththa leaves at 6.15 AM.
- It goes through Dahanakanda, and you can get off at the junction that leads to Mukkuwaththa around 7.40 AM.
- From there, walk about 2 km along the estate road (take the shortcut in my trail) to reach the trail starting point.
- The last bus back from Mukkuwaththa to Rathnapura is 3.15 PM.
- Sometimes there is a 4.00 PM bus, but don’t depend on it.
Trail Overview 🥾
- Total distance: Around 16 km (to the point where it meets the Rathnapura trail).
- Trail difficulty: Hard / Longest route to Sri Pada.
- Type: Pure wilderness hike through Peak Wilderness Sanctuary.
- Best for: Experienced hikers, adventure lovers.
🌲 Trail Conditions
✔️ From Trail Head → to Rath Ganga
The footpath is wide and easy to follow because Hapugasthanna estate workers use this part daily.
Even in the off-season, this section is maintained.
The trail begins at a small Buddha statue and a sacred Bo tree 🌳. It’s good to start your journey by offering a quick worship 🙏, because you are about to enter one of the most sacred areas in Sri Lanka.
From the trailhead, the path to Rath Ganga is very clear because many people use it. But keep one thing in mind — leeches are everywhere 🪱, especially in the off-season. So be prepared with leech protection.
🏞️ Reaching Rath Ganga
From the trailhead, it’s about 300 meters downhill until you reach Rath Ganga (the river). It’s always better to cross this river early in the morning, because during the off-season, sudden rain can increase the water level very fast. If the river rises, you cannot cross safely.
⚠️ Never try to cross Rath Ganga when it’s raining.
The water flows extremely fast and becomes deep — much more dangerous than it looks.
Don’t worry, I will show the safest place to cross the river.
🚿 A Perfect Spot for a Refreshing Bath
This river area is also a popular place for pilgrims to take a quick bath before entering the jungle, and again after finishing the hike. It’s refreshing, clean, and a beautiful spot to relax before continuing your journey 💧
✔️ From Rath Ganga → to Paradise Fall
- The path becomes narrow.
- During the off-season, the trail almost disappears under thick nelu bushes.
- The path is cleared only when the pilgrimage season starts.
- Off-season hikers often struggle to find the correct way.
⚠️ If you’re hiking off-season, navigation is very difficult.
The hike between Rath Ganga and Paradise Falls is manageable, but still adventurous. Here’s what you will experience along the way 👇
🏕️ Camping Spots & Shelters
Along this section of the trail, you will find:
- 2 small camping spots near fresh water streams ⛺💧
- 2 natural caves that can be used as shelters 🪨
These can be very helpful if you need to rest or if the weather suddenly changes.
🌳 Thick Forest Cover
The trail during the season is surrounded by bushes, plants, and tall trees. In the off-season, the route is harder to follow because:
- You might see many confusing footpaths 👣
- The main trail is sometimes covered by plants
- It’s easy to take a wrong turn if you’re not careful
The forest here is truly massive — huge ancient trees block most of the sunlight ☀️➝🌳, making the path feel like a deep, peaceful jungle.
🚩 Trail Markers
You will notice Buddhist flags tied along the route. These help you to find the correct path. But:
- They are placed far apart (sometimes 1 km)
- Some flags are missing
So do not depend only on them. Always stay alert.
💧 Plenty of Water
Good news — water is not a problem in this area!
There are many clean, natural water sources, so you can refill your bottles easily.
🌊 Paradise Falls – The Best Camping Spot on the Dahankanda–Mukkuwaththa Trail
If you’re following the Dahankanda–Mukkuwaththa trail to Sri Pada, you cannot finish this hike in one day. So you must stop somewhere for rest — and the best place for that is near Paradise Falls.
Here’s everything you need to know 👇
🏕️ Perfect Camping Area
The campsite near Paradise Falls is one of the best and most beautiful spots on this entire route.
What you’ll find here:
- Space for one large 6-person tent
- Two smaller camping spots are available nearby
- Flat and safe ground
- Calm and peaceful environment
It’s the ideal place to relax after a long hike.
💧 Clean Water & Safe for Bathing
Another big advantage of camping here is the water:
- A clean water stream flows right next to the campsite
- You can drink the water
- You can take a refreshing dip in the shallow, safe area
The whole place feels pure, cool, and untouched.
🥾 Season vs Off-Season Availability
The campsite is highly popular during the Sri Pada season:
- ❗Mostly unavailable because many hikers target this spot
- ⛺ Gets full very early
But in the off-season, the story is different:
- 🌧️ Very few people use this route
- ✔️ The campsite is almost always available
🚫 A Big Problem – Please Protect This Place
When I visited, I sadly saw that some people had damaged and polluted the area:
- Tarpaulins hanging everywhere
- Trash all over the ground
- Old cooking pots and pans left behind
- Burn marks on rocks
It was heartbreaking to see.
These beautiful natural places get destroyed because of careless hikers and pilgrims.
🙏 Please Be Responsible
If you visit Paradise Falls:
- Carry your trash back
- Do not cut trees or branches
- Do not leave cooking items or plastic
- Keep the water clean
- Respect nature and other hikers
Let’s protect this amazing campsite so others can enjoy it too. 🌿💚
✔️ From Paradise Fall → Rathnapura Trail
This section of the hike, from Paradise Falls to the Rathnapura / Palabaddala trail, is continuously uphill and quite demanding. You need to be fully prepared before starting this stretch.
⛰️ Trail Difficulty & Distance
- 📏 Distance: Around 6 km
- ⏱️ Time needed: Minimum 4 hours
- 📈 Elevation gain: About 618 meters towards Sri Pada peak
- 🔺 Terrain: Continuous elevation with no flat sections
🛑 Rest & Water Points
- 💧 Only one rest stop available
- 📍 Aggala Dola water stream
- 🚫 No other resting places after this point
- 🚰 The only drinking water source in this entire section is Aggala Dola
🌿 Trail Conditions
- 🌳 No lighting and no clearly visible trail.
- 🍃 In the off-season, the trail is heavily covered with plants, mostly through tall nelu bushes.
- 🌱 You often need to crouch under thick bushes and fallen trees.
- 🧭 Easy to lose direction due to overgrown paths.
🌄 Highlights
- 💚 Despite the difficulty, this is the most beautiful part of the trail
- 🌲 Massive forest cover with a true jungle atmosphere
- 🌫️ Sunlight hardly reaches the ground, creating a magical forest view
⚠️ Important Tip:
Because there are no rest points, no clear trail, and limited water, this section is not suitable for unprepared hikers. Bring a torch/headlamp because the tall bushes make the path dark.
💧 Water Sources & Leeches
- Water streams are plentiful throughout the trail.
- Good for drinking (filter recommended).
- But the area is known for leeches, especially in wet weather.
🏕️ Camping Options
If you don’t want to finish the full trail in one day:
- You can camp near Paradise Falls.
- There are also a few small flat areas near water streams suitable for camping in that area between Paradise Falls and the Rath Ganga (river) crossing area.
⚠️ But remember:
No proper shelters, no resting huts, no shops.
This is a raw wilderness route.
🔗 Comparison: Mukkuwaththa vs. Udamaliboda Route
This trail is similar to the Udamaliboda – Deraniyagala route.
But one big difference:
✔️ Udamaliboda route = clear path all year
✖️ Mukkuwaththa route = no proper path during off-season
This is why many hikers say Mukkuwaththa is the hardest way to climb Sri Pada.
My Off-Season Journey on the Dahanakanda Mukkuwaththa Trail 🌧️
Let me share my real off-season Sri Pada trail experience—one of the toughest but most unforgettable hikes I’ve done.
🚔 Starting the Journey (Permissions & Delays)
During the off-season, special permission is required from the Nallathanniya or Palabaddala Police Station.
So, I started my journey from the Hatton – Nallathanniya route.
Unfortunately, my hike was delayed due to bus issues. Because of this, I only managed to start my descent from Sri Pada peak around 4:15 PM.
I entered the Dahanakanda Mukkuwaththa trail around 4:40 PM—and that’s when the rain started 🌧️.
🤔 Two Tough Choices
At that moment, I had only two options:
1️⃣ Continue along the Rathnapura / Palabaddala route, go 1 km downhill, and rest overnight at Adiyamalathanna Ambalama, then return to the trailhead the next morning.
2️⃣ Start the Dahanakanda Mukkuwaththa trail immediately and try to reach Paradise Falls before night.
⏳ Time was very limited. Darkness comes early in thick forests, especially with rain.
Still, I told myself: “Whatever happens, I’ll face it.”
And I chose Option 2.
🌲 Into the Jungle – Rain & Darkness
As I mentioned earlier, the trail has no clear path, even in daylight.
With the rain, it became extremely difficult, even while going downhill.
🌧️ Continuous rainfall
🌑 Darkness came very early
🔦 I didn’t turn on my torch until I literally could not see anything
At around 6:30 PM, I finally turned on my torch and tried to rush through the forest.
But rushing was nearly impossible in that condition.
🛑 Only One Rest Point
- 📍 Aggala Dola water stream was the only place I could rest
- ❌ No stopping spots before or after
- I pushed forward non-stop until Paradise Falls
⏰ I finally reached Paradise Falls at 8:00 PM
🏕️ Camping at Paradise Falls
I was completely exhausted:
- 🎒 Heavy backpack
- 🌧️ Endless rain
- 🌙 Total darkness
Still, I somehow found the main camping spot near Paradise Falls.
There were two smaller camping spots nearby as well.
😔 Sadly, the place was badly damaged:
- Trash everywhere
- Tarpaulin sheets scattered
- Plastic, polythene, cooking items left behind
🙏 Please don’t destroy such beautiful places.
🩸 Leeches Everywhere
There were lots of leeches, but I still had to wash myself.
I bathed in:
- 💧 Baththalu Oya (upper stream of Paradise Falls)
🥶 The water was extremely cold, but I badly needed to refresh myself.
That night:
- 🏕️ Set up camp
- 🍳 Cooking was very difficult because of leeches
- 😩 Constant leech attacks throughout the night
🌄 Morning at Paradise Falls
In the morning… wow 😍
Paradise Falls is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen.
🌿 Calm
🌫️ Misty
🌊 Clean flowing water
If people didn’t destroy it, this campsite would be perfect.
- 🍽️ Had breakfast
- 🚿 Took a proper bath in Baththalu Oya
🚁 Drone Incident
I took my drone to capture some footage 🎥
But yes… it’s true 😔
⚠️ Samanola Adawiya has something mysterious.
My drone lost control, hit a tree, and fell into Baththalu Oya.
😰 Luckily, I managed to rescue it before it was swept towards Paradise Falls.
After that, I started hiking again around 10:00 AM.
🌳 Thick Forest & Endless Climb
The forest after Paradise Falls is:
- 🌲 Extremely thick
- 🌳 Massive giant trees
- ✨ Incredibly beautiful
Rest points were very limited, but I pushed forward until I finally reached:
📍 Rath Ganga river crossing around 6:00 PM
➡️ Another 300 meters to finish the trail
I was so happy to see the end, but completely drained.
🌊 Trouble at Rath Ganga
Due to continuous rain, Rath Ganga was:
- 🌊 Very deep
- 🌊 Very fast
- ❌ Impossible to cross safely
I tried several times, but it was too dangerous.
🏕️ Forced to Camp Again
I decided to camp and wait until the water calmed.
- ❌ No camping spots
- 🛠️ I had to create one myself
- 🌧️ Heavy rain continued
Still, I managed to:
- Set up my tent
- Carefully wash in the river
- Spend the night near Rath Ganga
☀️ Final Day – Safe Crossing
Next morning:
- ✅ Water level dropped
- ✅ Flow slowed down
- ✅ Crossing path clearly visible
I carefully chose my river crossing route.
(This path could be useful for future hikers struggling to find a safe crossing.)
After:
- 🚿 Bathing again at Rath Ganga
- 🥾 Starting my final walk
✅ I safely completed the Dahanakanda Mukkuwaththa Trail.
