The Pekoe Trail - Stage 03 - Loolkandura To Tawalantenne - Official Profile

*Notice: Stage 3 - Re-Route Alert!!

Please note that the last 4 kms (approx) from the campsite onwards have been temporarily re-routed to the end at Glenoch Tea Factory.

Due to the recent adverse weather conditions the original route no longer meets the stringent safety standards of The Pekoe Trail. Restoration work is currently underway.

Please save the new map before navigating this stage until further notice

IMPORTANT NOTE: The stage is walkable but not yet fully signposted. Trail users are advised to consider all the information available and to heed local advice when available. The services of a professional mountain guide are recommended. Trail users are responsible for all decisions as to the trail routes, trail conditions, weather, and safety. In addition to the hazards posed by steep terrain and mountain weather, hikers should be prepared for difficult route-finding and challenging trail conditions, dogs, leaches, heavy rain, intermittent thunderstorms, and plenty of sun. It is recommended to drink at least 1/2 litre of water per hour when hiking. Access to emergency medical care and rescue is not always immediately available.

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DESCRIPTION OF THE STAGE

The 3rd stage of The Pekoe Trail begins at the small bridge over the Ma Oya on the Loolkandura Estate. During the first hour of the stage, we are going to gain 250 meters in elevation, a challenging climb, especially the first bit. At the 0.3 km point, we leave the main road and take the small road that ramps up to your right. 500 meters later, at the 0.8 km point, there is a shed in front of a small school. Take the track to the right and soon you will see a Colorful Hindu Kovil and the Loolkandura Estate Bungalow below.

Over the next 3.5 km, we are going to gain approximately 300 meters of elevation gently climbing on some of the prettiest and most historically significant tea trails in Sri Lanka. At the 1.1 km mark, you will see a trail heading down to the river below. If you feel like a dip take the short side trip down to see the lovely rock pools.

A gentle uphill zig-zag awaits at the 2.2 km point followed by 800 meters on the trails of the upper divisions of the estate. Enjoy the fabulous views of the pine forest and the rock formations clearly visible to your right as you ascend. The further you climb the more remote it feels. As you look up towards the forest and the pass beyond you it feels as if there’s a whole new world over the mountain ahead. The landscape feels strongly connected to the past.

A sense of excitement and trepidation takes over as you penetrate the jungle, leaving the last tea field of the Loolkandura Estate behind. The first 500 meters of jungle consists of a small uphill track and then you veer right onto a much easier trail. Realize where you are – you are standing on the old and forgotten Dimbula Road, built by British Engineers over 150 years ago to connect Kandy with the valleys that lay beyond so that tea could be planted. This trail was meant for horses and bullock carts. You can derive its purpose from its – still – clearly visible features and attributes: The perfect gradient and the adequate width and the unmistakable stonework fittings. Solid 19th-century engineering was completely taken over by the jungle, lost in time.

We found a wonderful description of the ‘valleys beyond’ on the Tea Board website:

This was the true Mayarata or Land of Illusions, the reputed haunt of demons and evil spirits, where only the most desperate outcasts and fugitives ever ventured – never, more often than not, to be seen again. Wild elephants by the thousand, deer and sambhur by the tens of thousands, grazed upon the high, misty meadows of Horton Plains, safe from hunters and settlers; eagles rode the biting winds, pythons and leopards silently pursued their prey through rhododendron woods and dank, mossy cloud-forests where orchids of fantastic shape and color glowed in the darkness among the tree-trunks – all unseen by man, who had never once ventured here since the dawn of time.

At the 4.7 km point, we walk over the pass onto this ‘new world’; the valleys beyond. You are on the Stellenberg Estate looking south across Kotmale and the Rilagala mountain range in the distance. On a clear day, you should be able to see Adam’s Peak in the horizon line.

For the next 4.5 km, we walk on the ample and reasonably flat estate roads of the Stellenberg Estate heading south. Our marker is the Helbodde Tea Factory ahead of us. We leave a local village on our right-hand side and keep heading south, over and around some of the most verdant tea bushes you have probably seen to date. There are not as many trees here as there are on the tea trails of the Loolecondera estate we left behind earlier in the day. Sun cream and a hat are as important as ever on this stretch.

At the 10 km point the tea trail we are on turns into a very poorly maintained small tarmac road. A hundred meters ahead we leave a church to our right and then exactly at the 10.5 km mark we leave the tarmac road and keep on going straight, and then we begin to descend. The estate road is wide and easy to navigate. We zig-zag down cutting lines between the forest and the tea fields. The views in front of us are truly magical – the Kotmale Reservoir lies directly ahead of us just.

Over the next 6 km, we are going to lose 500 meters in elevation. At the 14.1 km mark, we pass by a modern cottage and a private camping ground. You will see the Ramboda pass and waterfalls in front of you and the Gampola-Nuwara Eliya road snaking up the mountain.

From here we continue to descend. There are a few homes and guest houses you’ll see along the way down – great places to stay you can walk into directly from the trail. The trail merges with the main road at the 16km post at the Glenoch tea factory, a post where there is easy parking. Most people will end the stage here, but for those of you wanting to end at Tawalantenne town, there’s another 2km on the main road. We are currently working on a route to avoid these 2 km and will update this stage again when it has been finalized.

The end of the train is the point at which you cross the main road. The next stage follows the village track 50 meters down the road opposite, on the other side of the road. This is the best, the only way to avoid walking on the busy main road. Tawalantenne “central” is 200 meters away to your right.

PLEASE TAKE ALL YOUR RUBBISH WITH YOU AND IF YOU SEE ANY RUBBISH OTHERS LEFT BEHIND TRY TO TAKE IT - EVEN IF JUST A BOTTLE OR A PLASTIC BAG, EVERY BIT COUNTS - THANK YOU.

The Pekoe Trail is designed to support development and livelihoods in rural areas of Sri Lanka. Buying goods and services from local businesses helps communities along the trail to thrive. The Pekoe Trail is funded by the European Union (EU) with additional support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by IESC on behalf of Sri Lanka Tourism.