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Little Adam’s Peak Sri Lanka

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If you know Sri Lanka you’ll know all about Adam’s Peak but you may not have heard of Little Adam’s Peak ( aka Mini Adam’s Peak or Small Adam’s Peak) in Ella. The full size Adams Peak is a 2,243m mountain in the centre of Sri Lanka. It’s famous as a pilgrimage site and as a really great walk. Traditionally pilgrims and walkers make the ascent of Adam’s Peak at night, arriving at the summit for dawn to see the shadow of the mountain receding with the rising sun.  Near the summit a rock formation resembles a huge footprint, the Buddhist’s say it belongs to Buddha, the Hindus say it’s Shiva’s, the Muslims and Christian’s say it’s Adam’s. Hence the name. But this blog post is all about Little Adam’s Peak and it’s a lovely walk for people of almost any ability.

Little Adams Peak Ella Sri Lanka

We’re into walking up mountains, hills, the Himalayas, whatever.

We’ve done plenty of trekking including the Inca Trail, Everest Region and Annapurna Circuit already.

I’ve tried to get to Adam’s Peak before when I’ve been in Sri Lanka, but time has always stopped me.

Now we’re in the right place at the right time (as we were for the blue whales in Mirissa) so we’d really like to have a go.

Ella Sri Lanka. Beer at Little Adam's Peak.
Near the top of Little Adam’s Peak,  Ella, Sri Lanka. Beer would have been good a little later in the day.

Little Adam’s Peak Ella Sri Lanka

So, today we are in Ella after catching the bus up from Tangalle on the coast.

Ella is a cool little mountain town and tourist hot spot in the middle of Sri Lanka.

When we arrived, we discovered that Ella has its own Little Adam’s Peak, a fairly easy walk with amazing views.

To hike up Little Adam’s Peak you’ll need to base yourself in Ella for a day or so, it’s a great town and it’s well worth staying here.

There are lots of hiking or walking opportunities around town along with temples and tea plantations to explore.

If you’re looking for a place to stay in Ella, try any of those we list below.

We feel it’s a good idea to book ahead in Ella, it’s a busy, isolated place, accommodation options are limited.

Hotels in Ella, Sri Lanka

If you’re looking for a place to stay in Ella, try any of these. We feel it’s a good idea to book ahead in Ella, it’s a busy, isolated place and accommodation options can be limited.

We used a very budget place in Ella and unfortunately had our first and only, run-in with bed bugs. Here are some better hotel and guest house options for you to try:

Misty Hills Resort. A top scorer on Agoda with stunning views of Ella Gap.

Hotel Alta Vista  Number 1 on Trip Advisor

Hotel Heaven’s Edge Number 6 on Trip Advisor


For latest special offers on hotels and accommodation in Ella, use the search box below. We are Agoda affiliates and warmly recommend them as Asia specialists and for great customer service. Don’t forget to register for Agoda points to use against further bookings.

Ella Sri Lanka and Little Adam's Peak climb

Little Adam’s Peak, our Warm up for Adam’s Peak Proper

We’ll be having a crack at the real Adam’s Peak in a few days (we hope) so we thought we’d use Little Adam’s Peak as a bit of a warm up and test, to see what the kids would make of it.

It’s not a huge walk, we took about  80 minutes from guest house to top of the peak, but there are enough steps to make kids complain.

My calves are complaining now, but I was fine going up.

Little Adam's Peak climb. Ella trek SriLanka

The kids grumbled from time to time, exactly as expected, but once we got to the top it was a different story.

Lots of “Awesome!” and ” Can we come up here again tomorrow?”

It’s a beautiful walk through a tea plantation, the views are stunning.

There was low cloud this morning, but on a clear day I think you could see all the way to the coast, I couldn’t make it out.

View of Ella Gap from Little Adam's Peak Sri Lanka

The trick to walking with children is distraction, don’t let them think too much about the walking!

We talked about the tea, the plantation owners and the pickers.

We saw birds, flowers and bugs the kids had never seen before. We had a good chuckle about the lady posing for photos for money.

On the way up she was pretending to pick tea, on the way down she was posing with a large jack fruit  (James thought she’s be posing naked if we went past a 3rd time, but he’s a very bad boy!)

Little Adam's Peak Sri Lanka. Tea Plantations Ella
Looking over the tea towards Ella Rock, another good walk,

When we got to the top the kids were amazed to be looking down on a couple of eagles, they’ve ever seen that before, cool stuff!

The boys raced back down the hill, beating us by minutes and stunning a few walkers who were taking things far too seriously.

They were so chilled after the climb that we kept going, we walked on to Nine Arches bridge, passing more tea, temples and cows and then walked all the way back into Ella.

We must have walked about  8 Km this morning, all over hills, not bad going for 7 and 9 year olds, in Crocs.

Little Adam's Peak Sri Lanka. View of Ella Gap from Adam's Peak.
Climbing Little Adam’s Peak with children, they complained a bit, but loved the view from the top.

We’re working on them now, tomorrow they want to stay in Ella and walk again, but they’re not sure about the Adam’s Peak ascent in the dark. We’ll keep talking it up and see how it goes. It won’t be any fun if they’re dead set against the idea but we’ll stock up on chocolaty snacks ( bribery is good) and keep our fingers crossed! Back to our Sri Lanka Family Travel Home Page

If you'd like to hire a car during your stay, use this car rental comparison tool to find the best deal!

We also suggest you take a look at this company to get a quote for all kinds of the more tricky adventure or extended travel insurance.

Try Stayz / VRBO for an alternative way to find rentals on homes/apartments/condos in any country!

Alex McKinley

Wednesday 6th of March 2024

Great write-up and excellent photographs! Adam's Peak is a wonderful place. I lived there for a full pilgrimage season in 2016. Sometimes I think kids had an easier time climbing it than the adults!

If you're interested in an academic account of Adam's Peak that blends history with anthropology, my book about the mountain has just been published: https://cup.columbia.edu/book/mountain-at-a-center-of-the-world/9780231210614

Alyson Long

Thursday 7th of March 2024

I approved that backlink because it looks interesting Alex. I normally delete them. Good luck with it.

Ranganath

Tuesday 28th of November 2017

Nice blog.. thanks for promoting tourism in Sri Lanka

Kym

Monday 2nd of December 2013

YOU CAN DO IT!

GO BOYS!

Look forward to the photos.

Jess with2kidsintow

Monday 2nd of December 2013

So glad you made it to Little Adams Peak--it's a nice walk and like you said, the views are amazing. We did it in 2011 with our then 3 & 5yr olds, who walked all the way albeit not in crocs ;). They were too little to brave Adams Peak though!

alyson@worldtravelfamily

Monday 2nd of December 2013

Only shoes they've got Jess! People fuss about stuff like that far too much. Yes, we just went for a wander after an amazing Sri Lankan breakfast and ended up on top of a small mountain, it was lovely. Ella is gorgeous once you use your legs a bit :)

Suzi Hansborough

Monday 2nd of December 2013

I'm reading about your hike through the tea plantation and your conversation with the boys....and the homeschooling mom in me is thinking: Love it, Love it, Love it!

alyson@worldtravelfamily

Monday 2nd of December 2013

Suzi, I also covered all of sexual reproduction in plants, pollinators and seed dispersal with Boo (7). He asked "What are flowers FOR?" So I had to tell him! Walking with kids is THE best way to get the education happening I think.

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