The Knuckles Forest Reserve is a – still fairly undiscovered – mountainous nature reserve near the central big city of Kandy. You can do beautiful (multi-day) hikes in Knuckles and that’s why we like to put all the information together for you. What to expect, what to bring and especially who to book the Knuckles Forest Reserve hike with!
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Hikes in Knuckles Forest Reserve
There are several hikes in the area of Knuckles, Sri Lanka. In fact, the area is nearly 250 square kilometers, so there is something for everyone. Knuckles is known for the challenging “Five Peaks” hike. These 5 peaks look like knuckles, which is why the area is named Knuckles. The Five Peaks hike is a challenging hike though, because that means you climb all 5 peaks, walking uphill a lot of the time.
In addition to the 5 Peaks hike, there is also the Duwili Ella hike, which takes you to the most beautiful waterfall in Knuckles. These are the 2 most famous hikes, but there are dozens more. Depending on your fitness and weather conditions, the guide will recommend different hikes to you.
Multi-day Knuckles hike
We recommend spending several days exploring Knuckles Forest Reserve. This is because it is an hour drive from Kandy and if you go there and back in one day it is very tiring. In addition, of course, it is also just a lot of fun to hike for 2 (or more) days.
You spend the night in an accommodation with a beautiful view where you have your own room / cabin or in a tent along the way. This depends on which hike you are going to do. We ourselves just stayed in the accommodation, which was really nice. There were a few other hikers with whom we had dinner in the evening, sang and danced around the campfire. A wonderful place to get away from the hustle and bustle of Sri Lanka.
You can check with your guide about where you will sleep. We were actually prepared to spend the night in a tent along the way, but our guide indicated that this only happens on the very long multi-day hikes (of 30+ kilometers), where you go really deep into the Forest Reserve. Most tourists do separate day hikes and so you basically always just sleep in the accommodation (including a delicious dinner). This was the view when we returned from a long day of hiking, isn’t it great?
Which guide do we recommend for Knuckles?
We can recommend 2 guides for Knuckles Forest Reserve. In fact, we did a day hike with both of them and this was really fantastic.
- Susantha Ashoke. Susantha is a friendly man who knows a tremendous amount about nature and the ecosystem. He is a passionate hiker and guide. If you are interested in learning more about Sri Lanka, its nature and plants and animals, we can definitely recommend you to go on a hike with him. Besides being a guide in Knuckles, he is also a guide for the Pekoe Trail: the 300 kilometer hike route that takes you right through the central highlands of Sri Lanka. You can WhatsApp him at +94 78636 2112 or send an email to [email protected]
- Janaka. Janaka is also a super fun guide. He is passionate about Knuckles and knows the best spots in the Forest Reserve. He has a team around him because there are a lot of requests, so there is actually always an opportunity to go out with him – or one of his other guides. You can reach Janaka at +94 76857 5164.
What is the price of a Knuckles hike?
For the 2-day Knuckles hike, we paid $80 per person. This was the price for 2 people (because unfortunately no others were going with us at that time). If there are more people in a group it becomes cheaper.
This $80 includes everything: lunch, dinner, breakfast, accommodation and drinks. We drove our own tuktuk to Knuckles but if you don’t have your own tuktuk the guides can also pick you up in Kandy or arrange for you to be picked up. You pay a little extra for this of course.
What should you bring?
We left our big backpack in Kandy because we were going to come back there anyway. This is also the most convenient thing to do since you can’t easily go in any other direction from Knuckles. So you only take a small backpack with the essentials for a two- or multi-day hike:
- Hike clothing (shorts and long pants, quick-drying shirt & top and a sports vest)
- Raincoat
- Underwear and socks
- Toiletries
- Quick-drying small towel for by a waterfall or in the ‘shower’
- Warm clothes for the evening (thick sweater or jacket and long, warm pants)
- Good walking shoes
- Possibly sandals or water shoes
- Swimwear for by the waterfall
- Mosquito spray or DEET
- Band-aids for when a leech has bitten you
- Camera and/or drone
What about leeches in Knuckles?
In Knuckles Forest Reserve there are very many leeches. This may sound very scary, but it’s really not that bad. When leeches attach themselves to you, they squirt a kind of blood thinner into your blood. This keeps the blood flowing even after you’ve pulled the leech off you. That’s why we put band-aids on the packing list, so that – if you get bitten by a leech in Knuckles – at least you’ll have enough band-aids with you to make sure everything doesn’t get covered in blood.
In addition, your guide will also give you special leech socks / stockings that you pull up to over your knee. Even with long pants, you really should put on these socks! In the beginning it is a bit uncomfortable, but soon you get used to it. You will see that the leeches fall off these socks easier and also have no grip so they can’t climb up. In addition, always tuck your shirt into your pants so they can’t climb under your clothes toward your back or belly as easily. If you do get bitten by a leech, the guide can always easily remove it from you.
What is the best season to hike in Knuckles Forest Reserve?
Between March and October is the dry season in Knuckles. This does not mean that there is no chance of a rainshower. In fact, Knuckles is located in the central highlands of Sri Lanka and here it can rain all year round. Between late November and late January is the rainy season and then – depending on the specific days – it may not be worth going to Knuckles because you won’t see anything due to fog and rain.
How do you get to Knuckles?
As mentioned, you can drive your own tuktuk to Knuckles. The guide will then arrange a point where you will meet. If you don’t have your own tuktuk, the guide can also arrange for him to pick you up – or for you to be picked up. So consult with your guide on how best to travel from Kandy to Knuckles.
