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View all Nuwara Eliya toursPekoe Trail Stage 11 Guided Hike: Horton Plains to Udaweriya by the Devil's Staircase in Nuwara Eliya
The hardest and emptiest stage of the Pekoe Trail: down the Devil's Staircase from the Horton Plains edge to the abandoned Udaweriya tea factory, through valleys almost nobody walks.
Highlights
- The Devil's Staircase, a British-cut track down the escarpment with nobody on it
- The abandoned Udaweriya tea factory, machinery still inside
- Starting at 2,000 m on the Horton Plains boundary
- Remote valleys and estates almost no visitors reach
- The most demanding Pekoe stage in this part of the country
Pekoe Trail Stage 11 Guided Hike: Horton Plains to Udaweriya by the Devil's Staircase: Key Facts
| Price | From $104 per person |
|---|---|
| Duration | 8 hours |
| Languages | English |
| Tour type | Guided Tour |
| Booking | Direct with the local operator — no OTA markup |
Full description
The Pekoe Trail runs 300 kilometres through Sri Lanka's tea country on paths that already existed, and Stage 11 is the one experienced walkers single out.
It starts near the Horton Plains boundary at around 2,000 metres and drops down the Devil's Staircase — a track cut by the British to move tea out of the remotest estates in the country, switchbacking down an escarpment with the valley opening below at every turn. It is a jeep track in name and a walking route in practice, and there is essentially nobody on it.
Udaweriya at the bottom is the point. It was one of the highest and most isolated tea estates in Ceylon, and the factory there has been abandoned for decades — a large Victorian industrial building standing empty in a valley with the machinery still inside. The estate line rooms nearby are still lived in.
The walking is genuinely demanding: long, mostly downhill on rough ground, and the descent is harder on the knees than a climb would be on the lungs. Around six hours on foot.
This is not a scenic stroll and it should not be booked as one. It is the stage for people who came to Sri Lanka to walk.
Tour Itinerary
The schedule below is a suggested plan and can be adjusted to suit your preferences.
Pickup in Nuwara Eliya
The drive up to the trailhead.
Start walking
From near the Horton Plains boundary.
The Devil's Staircase
The switchback descent off the escarpment.
Remote valleys
Estates and line rooms far from any road.
Udaweriya
The abandoned tea factory.
Return
The vehicle collects you at the finish.
Detailed Itinerary
[{"time": "07:30", "title": "The trailhead", "description": "Around 2,000 m. Cold and often in cloud first thing."}, {"time": "09:00", "title": "The staircase", "description": "Long switchbacks on rough ground. Poles help — the descent is what hurts."}, {"time": "13:30", "title": "Udaweriya", "description": "An abandoned Victorian factory in an inhabited valley. The line rooms nearby are people's homes."}, {"time": "15:00", "title": "Pickup", "description": "One-way walk; the vehicle meets you."}]
Includes
- Transport from Nuwara Eliya to the trailhead and back from the finish, an English-speaking hiking guide, the guided hike, drinking water.
Excludes
- Meals, gratuities, personal hiking equipment, park fees where they apply.
Important information
Meeting point
Hotel pickup in Nuwara Eliya; the exact address and time are confirmed after booking.
Know before you go
- Free cancellation available up to 24 hours before the activity starts