10 of Sri Lanka’s best national parks

The sun reddens and drops behind a rosewood tree that conceals a dancing peacock, its cascading feathers shimmering in the day’s last light. Babblers chatter, buffalo soak in shrinking pools and a troop of macaques lets out a sharp cry. A deer leaps frantically. There’s a leopard somewhere, hiding in the bush. You are on a wildlife safari in Sri Lanka.

With majestic landscapes lining the ocean, large families of elephants, rolling Hill Country grasslands and shallow seas sheltering turtles, Sri Lanka’s national parks – 28 of them – capture some of the island’s most breathtaking vistas.

But they are more than their stunning surroundings. Home to leopards, sloth bears, elephants and water buffalo, most of Sri Lanka's national parks provide excellent opportunities for game drives. In others, you can walk through misty meadows and snorkel in colorful reefs. Thronged with swamps that see both native and migratory birds, the parks are ideal destinations for bird-watchers. 

Use this guide to 10 of the best national parks in Sri Lanka and carve out a space in your itinerary to visit one — or a few. 

Yala National Park. Matt Munro/Lonely Planet ©Matt Munro/Lonely Planet

1. Yala National Park

Best national park for leopard sightings

Yala draws safari jeeps in numbers, thanks to its high population of the elusive Sri Lankan leopard, a big cat subspecies native to the island. It’s not only about the leopards though. With some luck, you’re in for epic wildlife sightings: tuskers lumbering in shallow pools, marshy crocodiles basking in the sun, families of sloth bears and young elephants chasing away boars with the Indian Ocean stretching off into the distance. 

Established as a national park in 1938 – the first in Sri Lanka along with Wilpattu on the west coast – Yala is popular throughout the year. A sleeve of high-end resorts, game lodges and glamping sites sit by the bounds of the park. The neighboring town of Tissamaharama has more midrange and budget-friendly hotels, homestays and hostels, which will often arrange a safari for you. 

Based on the area and biodiversity, Yala is divided into separate zones called blocks, and most safaris are limited to the well-tracked Block 1; other areas, including Block 2, require permits to visit. 

Although the other blocks are less developed and overgrown, establishments like Tree Tops Jungle Lodge arrange game drives to Block 5, a less-crowded patch of wild growth, where the soaring canopy shields a reservoir and joins the nearby Lunugamvehera National Park, a site for elephants and aquatic birds. 

2. Chundikulam National Park

Best national park for birding in the north

Chundikulam became a national park in 2015, and there are hardly any visitors – a common occurrence across northern Sri Lanka, since the region was cut off from tourism during the nearly three-decade civil war. Although there’s still little development, this vast park, 196 sq km (75 sq miles), harbors coastal lagoons and mudflats sheltering colonies of birds before it merges into the lagoon near Elephant Pass, which separates the Jaffna peninsula from the rest of the island. 

If you are ready to drive on the unpaved roads that weave through the mangroves, churches, navy camps and remote hamlets where fishers haul in the day’s catch, you are in for a treat. Flocks of herons, gulls, painted storks and sandpipers potter around the lagoons at dawn and dusk, and migratory birds – like types of waders, flamingos and ducks – come here for sanctuary during the winter months from November to March. 

Accommodation is limited, so it’s best to bed down in Jaffna, northern Sri Lanka’s biggest city. You can arrange safaris through the local-run Explore Yarl, while passionate birders can take day trips to the marsh in Mannar for sightings of greater flamingos. From December until March, hundreds of the pale pink birds wade in the region’s wetlands.

3. Uda Walawe National Park

Best national park for seeing elephants on the south coast

In the shadows of the towering highlands at its northern edges, Uda Walawe is an ideal place to spot Sri Lankan elephants, the largest subspecies of Asian elephant. Although there’s no official count, an estimated 500 elephants traverse the park where the Walawe River and its feeder creeks form ribbons across the low-lying bush.

The nearby Elephant Transit Home looks after abandoned and injured baby calves, and opens for public viewing during the animals’ feeding time. As the park’s popularity has grown over the years, the small town of Uda Walawe now has plenty of hotels and homestays, but it can be done as a day trip from the beach towns in the south too.

World's End at Horton Plains National Park. PhilipYb Studio/Shutterstock PhilipYb Studio / Shutterstock

4. Horton Plains National Park

Best national park for hiking

Protecting pockets of cloud forests interwoven with mist-enveloped waters, the UNESCO-listed Horton Plains occupies a windswept grassland 2000m (6561ft) above sea level. It’s known for its rich biodiversity, counting some 20 species of mammals, like giant squirrels, leopards and sambar deer, as well rare endemic highland birds.

This high mountain landscape dotted with bright red rhododendrons, declared a national park in 1988, is starkly different from the rest of the island. It also packs in a lot of attractions. A well-marked main trailhead falls through World’s End, a dramatic 880m (2887ft) drop with views of tea plantations and Hill Country settlements from the lookout. Go early before the clouds start rolling in by 10am. The nearby town of Nuwara Eliya – an hour’s drive north – has a mix of accommodations, like wood cabins, established hotels and guesthouses. You can hop on a tuk tuk to get to the park's entrance.

5. Bundala National Park

Best national park for spotting sea turtles

Crisscrossed with wetlands concealing crocodiles, nesting bee-eaters and peacocks, Bundala’s rugged crags line a nearly 20km (12-mile) stretch of the coast in the island’s deep south. It’s particularly stunning in the early hours, when birds chitter and flocks of storks glide in the air. From midday until nightfall, you might even see some Asian elephants and families of spotted deer. 

The groups of migrant flamingos that once frequented the park are now hardly seen, but there are more reasons to visit Bundala. From November until March, five out of the world’s seven types of sea turtles come ashore to nest on the beach. And until July, thousands of baby hatchlings begin their perilous journey into the ocean, flapping and clumsily crawling on the powdery sand. Although located less than an hour’s drive south of the popular Yala, Bundala is surprisingly quiet. You can organize a tour through Bundala Safari with Srimal, a local guide who’s well versed in the region’s wildlife. 

6. Minneriya National Park

Best national park for seeing large elephant herds

Combined with patches of scrub, thick forest and a large reservoir built by an ancient king in the heart of it, Minneriya is known for one thing: the gathering. When bodies of water start to thin out during the dry months from April to October, hundreds of elephants come here to feed, bathe and play with one another. Hiding behind these giants are flocks of cormorants, herons and pelicans fishing in the lake’s waters. It is a spectacle, but this also means that you’ll see dozens of jeeps lining up and, unfortunately at times, crowding around the animals. 

Spanning nearly 89 sq km (34 sq miles), Minneriya neighbors the equally splendid Kaudulla National Park and the smaller forest reserve Hurulu Eco Park. Depending on the climate, and the availability of water and food, elephants often move across these protected forestlands. So stick with a local guide who’s knowledgeable about the elephants’ behavior. Safaris are easy to arrange through your hotel, or go with Minneriya Wild Tours.

Gal Oya National Park. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

7. Gal Oya National Park

Best national park for boat safaris and Indigenous culture

Major irrigation projects following Sri Lanka’s independence from the British in 1948 displaced the country’s Indigenous Veddah people, who were originally forest dwellers. A community has settled around Gal Oya National Park, which encompasses Sri Lanka’s largest man-built lake, Senanayake Samudraya. A handful of lodges, like Wild Glamping Gal Oya, now provide employment to these last remaining Indigenous groups.

You can join bush walks with Veddah guides who share their wisdom of the jungle and the community’s cultural know-how. Boat safaris across the lake offer the opportunity to see swimming elephants, water buffalo cooling off from the midday sun and mugger crocodiles napping on scattered boulders. The forest shelters over 30 species of mammals, butterflies and 150 species of birds, like the red-faced cuckoo endemic to the island. 

8. Kumana National Park

Best national park without the crowds

Located on the eastern borders of Yala – and once considered an extension of it – Kumana National Park (formerly Yala East National Park) is a wild world. It’s relatively quiet though, which makes it one of the best places to see the Sri Lankan leopard. The cats are very shy here, as they aren’t used to safari jeeps, but sightings are somewhat frequent, since an estimated 40 of them live in the park. You can get more information about the leopards and their habitats from Kumana Leopards, which has interesting profiles of these big cats too. 

Kumana, just south of the famous surfing break at Arugam Bay, is comprised of marshes, grasslands and natural lakes. So you’ll see bull elephants plodding through the wetlands, hornbills easing on bare trees and jackals trotting through the drying grass. The park’s rock formations house ancient wonders, including monasteries and places of worship with inscriptions and collapsing statues, like Kudumbigala Forest Hermitage.

Pigeon Island National Park. Matyas Rehak/Shutterstock Matyas Rehak / Shutterstock

9. Pigeon Island National Park

Best national park for snorkeling

While most Sri Lankan national parks are on land, Pigeon Island lies just off the coast of Nilaveli in eastern Sri Lanka. Two small islands connected by coral, this spot is great for snorkeling. The reef is relatively healthy, compared to the island’s southern and western coasts, with nearly 100 coral varieties. The shallow waters are home to schools of fish, blacktip reef sharks, olive ridley turtles and green sea turtles. 

It’s easy to arrange a boat trip through accommodations in Nilaveli or the nearby town of Trincomalee. The beaches here are fabulous and provide an idyllic getaway from the more commercialized venues elsewhere in Sri Lanka.

10. Wasgamuwa National Park

Best national park with high biodiversity

Talk about Sri Lanka’s national parks and you’ll hardly hear anyone mention Wasgamuwa – all the more reason to visit it. The views are splendid. It sits on the fringes of central Sri Lanka’s forested mountains and Mahaweli Ganga, just south of the UNESCO-listed ancient town of Polonnaruwa. Herds of elephants, deer, boar and golden jackals wander the bush, while endemic species like purple-faced langur and slender loris reside in the riverine forest.

At Wasgamuwa, you can volunteer with the Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs initiatives like planting citrus trees to keep away elephants from cultivated land. Getting here is relatively easy if you follow the path from Dambulla, and the Knuckles Range is a short ride away.