Knuckles Mountain Range

Knuckles Massif or the Knuckles Mountain Range is part of the Hill Country of Sri Lanka which is also above 3000 Ft or 915 Mts. from sea level and covers an area of about 90 Sq.Miles or 234 Sq.Km of land extent. This is also called as Knuckles Range or Knuckles Peaks or simply as Knuckles. 

The reason to call it Knuckles is because,there is a mountain with five peaks in itself, that looks like the knuckles of a clenched fist when seen from Kandy area ( or the SW direction of that mountain named as Knuckles with a height of 6112 Feet ). The Sri Lankan name for this mountainous area is " Dumbara Mitiyawatha " which means " The Misty Vally ". Since this inner mountainous area is off the motoring roads, it remains as an unspoilt nature reserve even today.

 Climate

A remarkable feature of this area is that most of the climatic conditions of Sri Lanka can be found with in the extent of a mountain range. All these hanging climatic conditions can be experienced within half and hour walk through this valley. 

The location of the hills, the particular effect of the monsoons and the wind factor generate a certain climatic diversity to the area. In fact in these hills one can find characteristics of all the key ecological zones found in the country.

Average annual rainfall lies between 3000-5000ml, and temperature of the region ranges between 5.5 degrees and 35 degrees Celsius. It is through a gap in the mountain that the winds of Southwest Monsoon enter to the Dry Zone. The average wind speed has been measured to be approximately 7.2km/hour and humidity in the range lies between 57%-90%. 

Mountains/Peak

Nowhere else in Sri Lanka, in area of comparable size, does one find such a collection of magnificent peaks. The peaks over 3000 feet are listed below.

 Over 6000Ft

Name	Ft	m	Denotation
Gombaniya	6248	1906
Knuckles	6112	1864

 5000 - 6000Ft

Name	Ft	m	Denotation
Kirigalpotta	5403´	1648	The milky rock
Aliyawetunaela	5400´	1647	The place where the elephant fell
Dumbanagala	5389´	1644	The rock of flowing mist
Kalupahana	5300´	1617	The black rock
Selvakanda	5300´	1617
Yakungegala	5200´	1586	The devils' rock
Dotulugala	5164´	1575	Dotulu (Loxococcus p.)palmrock
Wamarapugala	5110´	1559
Kobonilagala	5098´	1555	Kobonila tree rock
Kehelpothdoruwegala	5016´	1530	Rock shaped like a plantain sheath gutter
Rilagala	5000´	1525	Monkey rock

  

 4000 - 5000Ft

Name	Ft	m	Denotation
Pathanagala	4970´	1516
Nawangala	4877´	1487
Ratmetiya	4832´	1474	Red clay rock

 3000 - 4000Ft

Name	Ft	m	Denotation
Maratuwegala	3900´	1190
Ketaptalagala	3900´	1190
Velangala	3871´	1180
Dumbanagala	3784´	1154
Balalgiriya	3765´	1148	Auspicious rock
Galtuna	3700´	1129	The three rocks
Lahumanagala	3654´	1114
Rambukkoluwa	3604´	1101
Kinhirigala	3500´	1068	Anvil-shaped rock
Lunumadalla	3475´	1060	Lunumadalla tree
Vellangolapatana	3367´	1026
Lahumanapatana	3273´	998
Kehelpotamana	3245´	990
Vellangala	3071´	936