Little Adam’s Peak, Ella, Sri Lanka
The full-size Adams Peak in Sri Lanka is a 2,243m mountain in the centre of the country. It’s famous as a pilgrimage site and apparently a really great walk. Traditionally, walkers make the ascent of Adam’s Peak at night (setting off around 2am), arriving at the summit for dawn to see the shadow of the mountain receding with the rising sun. This was one walk we thought would be too challenging even for our great little walkers.
This blog post is all about Little Adam’s Peak and it’s a lovely, relatively easy walk for people of almost any ability. Little Adam’s Peak in Ella stands at 1141 metres.
Magnificent views across the top of Little Adams Peak
Ella was one of my favourite places in Sri Lanka, it’s a cool little mountain town. Yes, it’s a tourist town but it just had a really cool vibe. It was full of backpackers and families similar to us. All catching local buses, tuk tuk’s and trains. Not a tour bus or tour leader with a flag in sight!
It’s definitely worth staying in Ella for a few days. We had 3 nights and I would have loved another couple. Just to be able to immerse ourselves in the town a little more. It’s a great little town.
There are a few different hiking or walking opportunities around town with tea plantations, mountains and rail tracks to explore.
How to get to Little Adam’s Peak, Ella Sri Lanka
The walk to Little Adam Peak is now well sign posted.
From Ella, it’s easiest to grab a tuk-tuk for a quick 5-10 minute journey to the bottom of Little Adam’s Peak. There are plenty of people around and it’s quite obvious as to which way to go!
What to expect from the climb at Little Adam’s Peak Sri Lanka
There is no getting around the fact that you are heading up! But, it’s quite a gentle incline that Ned and Olive really were fine.
The first half of the climb is up a wide path, which varies between rock and dust with some stone areas. The views start pretty quickly, as do the tea plantations. You will find a few local’s selling fruit or water on the side of the path. We took our own snacks and water so didn’t need to purchase anything.
About halfway up you will hear and see the zipline off to the right hand side. Olive of course was despeate to give it a go. One of her favourite activities in Hawaii was ziplining. She was too small and too young though for this zipline.
Book discounted tickets for the Little Adam’s Peak Zipline experience through Klook here
There are well-formed steps up to the zipline ticket office.
The well formed steps on the way up Little Adams Peak
After the ziplining office, the steps become a little ‘rougher’. The path does get considerably narrower. If you are climbing with kids keep an eye on them on the edge but otherwise, it is not complicated.
At the top, probably the last 30 metres or so there is a bit of a dusty path to scramble up. This is not a hard scramble by any means but just be aware that it is not on a well-formed path. This was, of course, Ned and Olive’s favourite part.
The views at the top are quite incredible. We shared the view with many, many others. The thing about hiking something simple is that everyone can do it!
Once you reach the top there are some great photo opportunities and you are looking straight across to Ella Rock. If you are up for a challenge we’d recommend tackling the second peak over. This is definitely a challenge with kids. It is very steep both up and down and was slow going. It was especially hot also.
You can see here how steep the path between peaks is
There are multiple platforms for photos and different viewpoints along the track at the top.
Coming down the steep path
This is a great half-day activity. I think the earlier you go the better, you will have fewer tourists and also get back for a swim before the heat of the sun becomes unbearable.
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