Coconut Ridge

Ok, this isn’t so much a hike as a very lovely evening walk that takes up into a nearby Coconut Plantation and along an escarpment that peers down to the Victoria Lake. You’re looking westwards as you walk along the main trail and so we love to head here as the sun’s going down and shimmering on the lake below.

Some very enterprising local folks have built a cute Ambalama (I guess) at (nearly) the highest point on the walk and that’s a cool place to chill with a little sundowner that our guys will have on hand.

($15 per person - includes small fee we pay to the coconut plantation and a drink at the top)

Bambaragala and Pettigala scramble

We’re a short Tuk or bike ride (or nice but long-ish walk) from the monastery and cave temples of Bambaralga and the view point above of Pettigala.

This is more of a walk (with a good number of steps) followed by a scramble to the viewpoint at the top but the small cave temples en route are beautiful and fascinating to see and the views from the very top of course are wonderful.

($15 per person - includes small fee we pay to the temple and a drink at the top)

Knuckles proper

From Ruk you can hop in a Tuk Tuk (we’ll fix that) and ride up into the Knuckles Mountains - one of Sri Lanka’s lesser known but increasingly appreciated National Parks. It’s about an hour and 15 minutes as you skirt the Victoria Lake and then wind up to Hunasgiriya getting to around 1,400 metres and into Hare Park at the Southern end of the Knuckles.

We’ve explored all around and, though there are walking trails that take you through the “cloud forests”, we actually prefer to stick mostly to the quiet roads that wind through the mountains and villages inside. You see more, cover more ground, and can reach some beautiful rest points.

Our favourite Knuckles hike is an all-day trip from Ruk.

($25 per person without transport / $45 per person with Tuk Tuk transport - includes guide and packed lunch. Minimum 2 people)

(Approx. 6 hours)

Tea, villages and waterfalls

This is one of our favourite hike, climbing up and over remote tea estates in the foothills of the Knuckles and making for Ashburnham Estate (our kind-of sister property).

Again it’s a bit of a drive out from Rukgala (about an hour), but worth it as you head up towards Madulkele and set off into the lush estates surrounding Campbell’s Lane Forest. From the top you have gorgeous views both up into the Knuckles and across the valley looking over Lake Victoria.

It’s about a hour-one drive back from Ash or guests can time the hike at the end of their Ruk stay and spend a night or two at Ashburnham; a pretty and interesting contrast to time at Rukgala.

($25 per person without transport / $65 per person with transport (includes return trip from Ashburnham or drop-off of luggage) - includes guide and packed lunch. Minimum 2 people)

(All day)

Mount Hunasgiriya

Another great hike up into Knuckles foothills and heading from the same Madulkele. This hike though sees you get right to the top of Mount Hunasgiriya (slightly confusing one of two ‘Hunasgiriya peaks’ in the area).

You head up on long-used tea trails that meander the plantations and skirt the cloud forest. Where the Ash hike winds down from the Victoria viewpoint you bear left and up to the top of the mountain before retracing steps to Madulkele.

($25 per person without transport / $45 per person with transport - includes guide and packed lunch. Minimum 2 people)

(Approx. 6 hours)

Other walks around Ruk

There are, of course, some beautiful gentler walks you can do around Rukgala. We’ve written out some instructions for two of them here.