Riverston Matale Knuckles Mountain Range located between two districts of Matale and Kandy, in central Sri Lanka.
As the entire Matale Knuckles Mountain Range is dressed in heavy coatings of cloud, in Sinhalese it’s called “Dumbara” which means mountain in the mist.
Riverston Matale consists of few beautiful waterfalls inside the forest and home for several endemic birds and reptiles. The Several Trekking paths are there for observing nature and for an incredible hiking experience.
Riverston Matale – Welcome to Green Zone of Sri Lanka
Another View from Mini World’s End. Riverston Matale. Green Zone of Sri Lanka
View from Mini World’s End Matale
Direction – Riverston
I have been there once from the “Thangappuwa” side to hunt waterfalls. So this year we decided to visit Knuckles from Riverston Matale side.
Since many planned trips never happened, I just asked a few of my friends to get ready for an adventure on a long weekend off last September 2015. One of my cousins has got his own 4WD, so I checked with him too :-).
He agreed to come with us on the trip so we got free transport 🙂 haha !!!!
In the morning we started our journey from Colombo fort, I always use this as a starting point for trips.
It was around 9.30 am when we reach Raththota. I have an uncle at Raththota and he promised to arrange accommodation for a night.
After keeping our unnecessary things at his Place and having breakfast, we started the journey to Riverston Matale first. if you want to find a place to stay in Matale, please visit illukkumbura forest bungalow
otherwise, use booking.com to find the required Matale hotels
Bambarakiri Waterfall- One of the Best in Sri Lanka
As the first destination, we stopped by a beautiful waterfall called Bambarakiri Ella. It’s few meters away from the main road with a Suspension bridge over the waterfall.
Bambarakiri Ella in Matale
Bambarakiri Ella in Matale from a distance
Even the waterfall is not flowing with the highest force, it’s highly advised not to get into water since it has already taken more than 30 souls. After taking pictures and enjoying the beauty we got back to the route of Riverston. Sadly we found lots of empty beer cans around the waterfall.
You have to think twice before you consume alcohol at these beautiful places, in my personal opinion alcohol is not necessary to enjoy Mother Nature’s beauty. Lots of other garbage was also there.
Editor’s Note: We found the same and we checked with the villages about this and then they told us that, most of the littering is done by villages but not by the people who come outside.
Riverston Peak in Sri Lanka: VHF Transmission Tower in Riverston Matale
Even it was late morning, the whole area was full of mist. By following a rough road, we arrived at the junction towards the peak. A well-known Riverston Peak, VHF transmission tower is located on the peak of Riverston Matale.
Riverston Peak in Sri Lanka Transmission Tower
Closer view of Riverston Peak Transmission Tower
We started our journey to the peak of the junction after parking vehicles there. Make sure to get rid of leech attacks on the way to the peak. The whole area was covered by mist, and it was around 11 am we felt like its early morning in Colombo with the cold wind.
Riverston Matale mountain view from the Riverston Peak.
Riverston Matale and Pitawala Pathana
After reaching the peak and roaming around the Riverston Matale, we wanted to visit Pitawala Pathana since we found nothing interesting about a transmission tower.
So we walked along a road to the ticketing office. After buying tickets, we entered a beautiful meadow with an amazing view.
Ticket prices were less than 30 LKR for Adults. But it’s not the same price for foreigners.
After walking across the grassy land we reached the mini-worlds end at Pitawala Pathana. It gives you a spectacular view of the surrounding areas with clouds underneath your feet.
Matale some of the knuckles mountain from a distance
The viewpoint of the mini-worlds end isn’t a very safe place to stand and see if there are heavy winds across the area.
So you have to be careful if you want to get pictures from there. From one slip away, you will end up at the bottom part of the knuckles region 🙂 Matale
Breathtaking view of the surroundings and the misty mountains made us stay there for a long time enjoying the beauty.
Riverston Matale some of the knuckles mountain from a distance
another view of Riverston knuckles mountain range from a distance
As its name, “Dumbara mitiyawatha” was full of mist. View of Lakegala and knuckles mountain range region was visible to us from one end.
Paddy fields of the underneath valleys were an amazing view for us with the unusual “Helmalu” paddy fields.
Helmalu paddy fields are not prepared on the same ground level. It’s a unique feature of paddy fields of the hill country of Sri Lanka.
Our guide kumara was explaining to us the story of King Rawana and Lakegala. It’s believed that King Rawana had an abode on the peak of the Lakegala.
if you are really interested in hiking in reversion sri lanka, the blow mentioned blog posts are a good source of information
Sera Ella, another Waterfall
After having prepared bread with the Seeni symbol, we decided to turn back and visit Sera Ella knuckles mountain range.
Our guide told us that if we got across Puwakpitiya, which will be the easiest way to visit the Sera Ella.
Sera Ella Knuckles Mountain Range
There are several routes to reach Sera Ella from Pitawala Pathana. Locals use these roads daily basis, so it’s better if you can find a local guide or ask directions from villagers. After returning back to the same way, we got into the vehicle and followed the route to Puwakpitiya.
The road was not in good condition, but the scenic view of the surroundings made us comfortable with the ride.
After a few minutes, we arrived at the beautiful waterfall Sera Ella in the knuckles mountain range. We were amazed by the view of the waterfall even the water level was not much as we expected.
The height of the waterfall is not more than 10 meters, but the width of the waterfall is more than 20 meters. The best view of the waterfall can be witnessed if you visit there during monsoons.
Sera Ella is formed by a combination of Puwakpitiya Oya and Thelgamuwa Oya.
The bottom of the waterfall is made into a big pool. Even the water level is not high we were advised to not to get into the pool. As per the instructions of Kumara, there are some big deep holes in the rock surface of the pool.
Inside the cave – Sera Ella knuckles mountain range
Instead of getting to the water, we walked to the side of the waterfall.
For the first time in my life, I walked behind a waterfall!
Sera Ella – Small Cave
A small cave behind the waterfall made a way to walk into the waterfall.
It was a really amazing experience to walk behind the water curtain. Water was sprinkling across the cave and it was a bit cold inside the cave.
Our guide advised us not to be so close to the slippery edges of the cave. After staying inside the cave for another few minutes, we came out with the darkness flowing around us.
We were so desperate to find a natural pool to have a bath at that time. So we walked passing the waterfall to reach a hidden place to bath, which is not disturbed by tourists.
Riverston word’s End
End of the Riverston Matale Journey
But the water level was really low than on rainy days. After having a dip of the ice-cold water of Thelgamuwa Oya we felt so relaxed. It was a perfect relaxation for both mind and soul after a tiring day
It was around 6 pm we enter to the main road to come back to Raththota. Since it was too cold after the bath, we stopped by a small shop(in Riverston Matale) next to the road and had plan tea with hot egg hoppers.
At around 8 we came to my uncle’s place after having an amazing journey in Riverston Matale, Knuckles Mountain Range.
