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Sri Pada summit shrine
The footprint shrine at the peak, reached by a night-long stairway climb.
Adam's Peak
A sacred mountain climbed through the night.
What makes Adam's Peak.
Adam's Peak, or Sri Pada, is a striking conical mountain of 2,243 metres topped by a rock formation revered as a sacred footprint — by Buddhists as the Buddha's, by Hindus as Shiva's, and across Muslim and Christian traditions as Adam's. For more than a thousand years pilgrims have climbed its roughly 5,500 steps through the night to reach the summit shrine by dawn. The reward is one of the island's great moments: sunrise over a sea of cloud, when the mountain casts a perfect triangular shadow westward across the highlands. The pilgrimage season runs roughly December to May, when the stairway is lit and lined with tea stalls, rest huts and small shrines.
A sacred mountain climbed through the night.
- December – May (pilgrimage season; clear pre-dawn skies)Best time
- 6Spots to see
- ~700KVisitors / year
What to see
Where to explore in Adam's Peak.
The landmarks and corners worth carving out time for. Each one a reason this place earns its place on the route.
02Sunrise & the cast shadow
Dawn over a cloud sea, when the mountain throws a perfect triangular shadow westward.
03The Hatton (Nallathanniya) trail
The shortest, busiest and best-lit pilgrim route, the choice of most climbers.
04The Ratnapura (Palabaddala) trail
A longer, wilder and more traditional ascent through forest from the south-west.
05Peace Pagoda & rest stops
A Japanese-built stupa near the base and the chain of tea huts that fuel the night climb.
06Seetha Gangula stream
A cold mountain stream on the lower trail where pilgrims traditionally pause to bathe.
Find Adam's Peak on the map.
Where Adam's Peak lies within the Hill Country, and the landmarks clustered around it, so you can picture how it threads into the rest of a tour.
Keep exploring
More of the Hill Country.
Kandy
The island's cultural soul around a misty lake.
Explore
Nuwara Eliya
Cool-climate tea country with a colonial hangover.
ExploreElla
Laid-back hill town of viewpoints and waterfalls.
ExploreHaputale
A ridge town poised on the edge of the hills.
Explore
Bandarawela
A mild-weather market town in the tea hills.
ExploreHatton
The gateway to high tea and the sacred peak.
Explore
Horton Plains
Misty highland plateau and a sheer drop at World's End.
ExploreKnuckles Range
A rugged biosphere of cloud forest and hidden villages.
ExploreKitulgala
White-water rafting in a rainforest gorge.
Explore
Make Adam's Peak yours.
We weave it into a private, tailored trip around how you want to travel.