Hakgala Botanical Garden
The second largest of Sri Lanka's five botanical gardens, laid out on the slopes below Hakgala rock outside Nuwara Eliya. Its cool terraces are planted with roses and temperate flowers, and its edge runs straight into the Hakgala Strict Nature Reserve.
- Where
- Nuwara Eliya, Central Province, Sri Lanka
- Grade
- Local gem
- Worth
- 10 points collected on site
- Coordinates
- 6.9167, 80.7667
Get the Hakgala Botanical Garden stamp
Open LOQAH when you are at Hakgala Botanical Garden. It checks where you are once, at that moment, and the stamp is yours: confirmed on site in gold and struck with the date. It goes into your Central Province volume with your photos and a note.
Near Hakgala Botanical Garden
Victoria Park 5.8 km
A public park in the middle of Nuwara Eliya, next to the town's old post office. Its lawns, flower beds and stream are typical of the hill town the British built as a cool retreat, and it is a quiet place to watch birds.
Horton Plains National Park 13 km
A high plateau of grassland and cloud forest at 2,100 to 2,300 metres, made a national park in 1988 and rich in species found nowhere else. Walkers cross it to Baker's Falls and to World's End, where the plateau drops away in a sheer cliff.
St. Clair's Falls 14 km
One of the widest waterfalls in Sri Lanka, falling in broad tiers through the tea estates near Talawakele. Its width has earned it the nickname the Little Niagara of Sri Lanka.
Bambarakanda Falls 17 km
The tallest waterfall in Sri Lanka, a 263 metre drop of the Kuda Oya, a tributary of the Walawe River. It falls through a forest of pine trees near Kalupahana, about 5 km off the A4 highway.
Ramboda Falls 18 km
A 109 metre waterfall at the Ramboda Pass on the A5 road between Kandy and Nuwara Eliya. It is formed by the Panna Oya, a tributary of the Kothmale Oya, and falls from about 945 metres above sea level through tea country.
Haputale 26 km
A hill town at 1,431 metres on the ridge that marks the edge of the Uva basin, ringed by cloud forest and tea estates. Its altitude keeps it cooler than the land around it, and from the pass the view opens out across the southern plains of the island.
Ravana Falls 31 km
One of the widest waterfalls in Sri Lanka, tumbling down a rock face beside the road below Ella. It is named after Ravana, the king of the Ramayana, and local legend links the caves near it to the story of Sita.
Adam's Peak 32 km
A 2,243 metre cone of a mountain topped by Sri Pada, a footprint shaped hollow in the rock. Buddhists hold it to be the Buddha's footprint, Hindus that of Shiva, and others Adam's; pilgrims climb thousands of steps through the night to reach the top by dawn.
More hidden gems in Central Province
Questions
Where is Hakgala Botanical Garden?
Hakgala Botanical Garden is in Nuwara Eliya, Central Province, Sri Lanka. The nearest other LOQAH stamps are Victoria Park (5.8 km), Horton Plains National Park (13 km), St. Clair's Falls (14 km).
How do I get the Hakgala Botanical Garden stamp?
Open LOQAH when you are at Hakgala Botanical Garden and get its stamp. The app checks where you are once, at that moment, and the stamp goes into your Central Province volume, confirmed on site, with the date.
I have been to Hakgala Botanical Garden before. Can I still have the stamp?
Yes. Add it from Earlier trips in your Central Province volume, with the date if you know it, or import your Google Timeline and LOQAH matches the places you were.
Collect your first stamp.
LOQAH is free on iPhone and Android, in India and 20 more countries, with more countries on the way. Stand at a place, collect its stamp, and keep every trip in a passport that grows.