One of the amazing dry area forest in Dambulla covering around 35 acres. It is a must visit for everyone and the experience is outstanding. This is a better place that many of the forest reserves out there. Caretakers of this place are also great and they have maintained the place well. Adult ticket is Rs.250.00 and Rs.50.00 for a child. There are four trails with clearly marked arrows in the jungle areas. Lewvis (උණහපුලුවා), Jungle fowls, Deers and මීමින්නා is available to see. Further there is a camp site and also there are two rooms available Rs.2500.00 and Rs.2000.00 each. You can call te number in photos and reserve. There are variety of rare plants to be sold including කළුවර, බිං කොහොඹ and many more... It is a must visit place.. Hats off to the Mr. Proham for conservative action taken and also for NIFS for maintaining it very well. Referring all of my photos will give a great idea of the place. P.S. - Main office is constructed to similar structure to a ships sine Mr. Propham is into that field.

It has a 60 + years history. It was originally a scrub jungle which was transformed to a dry zone wood land. If you are a nature lover ; definitely worth visiting it. You will see a number of birds , dears , tropical butterflies , bats , feral chicken and many more.. ( Don't worry , no elephants ) You will see most of them if you walk slow , keeping your eyes wide open and without making noises.

Had a great night tour to see the Grey Slender Loris’! We managed to see 5 individuals in total and were able to get some great views and photos. Overall an amazing experience and well worth it! Costs 2500LKR per person and the two guides took us around the park for over an hour and were brilliant at spotting the animals. Definitely recommend! Thanks from the UK!

Very nice place, friendly staff. 1000 rupees the entrance. You can walk around alone, there are 4 different paths with different colours very easy to follow. Better go at morning or at night if you want to see animals. They make guided tours. At night you can see the Loris!

Perfect place for the wild life enthusiast to visit. Well maintained while preserving its original heritage. Guided tours fir the visitors will definitely be an added advantage.

Popham arboretum is such a worthy place that someone should not miss in his visit in Dambulla. It is restored secondary dry forest founded by F. H. (Sam) Popham in 1963. Also it is a restoration site to many endangered fauna and flora in Sri Lanka. There are 4 trails to walk through the forest. You have to get a ticket. The ticket price is LKR 250/=

Awesome place near Dambulla. Not.much popular. But really interesting. There are different tracks with different timings. Great if you could visit in morning or in night. Facilities available for small groups to spend the night. Well maintained place.

It's a finest place to enjoy dry zone flora and fauna! Best fact is Mr. Popham has created and turned this chena cultivation land (when he bought it) into a dry zone forest!! I wish to enjoy this place again and again!!! ❤❤❤

Nice nature trail to have a hike. Entrance fee for the day trail is Rs 250. Night trail with a guide to see loris cost Rs 2500 per person and in my opinion not worth it as we only saw one for very brief moment.

It was an amazing nature trail with my family. You can go all alone following the arrows throughout the woods. It was wonderful. Would recommend for anyone

An arboretum is a place where trees are grown for study and display as a tree garden. The IFS – Popham Arboretum, Sri Lanka’s only dry zone arboretum was established over five decades ago on 7.5 acres of thorny scrub jungle and abandoned ‘Chena’ land in Dambulla which is in the geographical center of our island, where history and culture merge amidst a natural landscape of water and mountains. The founder Mr. F.H. (Sam) Popham was born on the 29thof February 1923. He was educated at Eton and Magdalene College Cambridge, where he graduated in History. He first came to Sri Lanka as a young British Naval Officer during the Second World War. Based in Trincomalee, he would often travel through Dambulla admiring the forest vegetation on either side of the Dambulla – Bakamuna road. Back home in England after the war, Sam became a schoolmaster for a while, before returning to Sri Lanka a few years later as a Tea Planter. His love for trees, made him give up planting tea and assume responsibility as the Smithsonian Institute’s Principal Field Officer in the ‘Flora of Ceylon’ project. In 1963, he bought seven and a half acres of scrub jungle (abandoned ‘Chena’ land) in Dambulla and commenced his life’s most important work – returning wasteland to nature – conserving the unique biological diversity of the ‘dry zone’ of Sri Lanka. In 1989, Sam Popham decided to gift his labour of love “the Popham Arboretum” to the Institute of Fundamental Studies (IFS) in Kandy to be used for Conservation, Research and Education. Through the initiative of Prof. Cyril Ponnamperuma (former IFS Director) a further 27 acres were acquired and added onto the arboretum the same year. In 1994, Mr. J. Amarasinghe was appointed by the Ceylon Tobacco Company to assist Mr. Popham to manage the arboretum. Due to his commitment and passionate work, the arboretum was handed over to Mr. Jayantha and appointed him as the Curator when Mr. Popham left the country in 1999. From that year onwards he had been instrumental in managing the place with limited resources and much difficulty. In year 2005 May the Tree Society of Sri Lanka (Ruk Rakaganno) took over the management of the arboretum from IFS. During the past 50 years, Arboretum received sponsorship from many organizations for its general upkeep and projects. To name a few, - Institute of Fundamental Studies (IFS) 1989 – 1991 and 1994 to date - HSBC and the British High Commission 1993 – 1995 - Ceylon Tobacco Company 1994 May – Appointing Mr. J. Amarasinghe to assist Mr. Popham to manage the Arboretum - UNDP through the Tree Society of Sri Lanka (Ruk Rakaganno) 2005 to date - International Dendrologist Society – Trees and plants identification name board project What you can see at the Arboretum, - Timber Trees: 102 species - Medicinal Plants: 72 species - Flowering Plants: 20 species - Mammals including bats: 25 species - Birdlife: 83 species with migrants - Butterflies: 77 species - Dragonflies: 12 species Contact details, IFS Popham Arboretum, Kandalama road, Dambulla, Sri Lanka Manager: Mr. J. Amarasinghe, +94777267951 Opening hours: Daily 8 am till late in the night The Popham Arboretum is run for educational purpose for our future generations. Your valuable donations/contribution for its upkeep is welcome ! - IFS This is a must visit place if you are travelling around Dambulla. Highly recommended !!!

Excellent project, very informative. well wort a visit.

Good place for nature lovers. So much green and Botanical plants to see. A cool place on a hot area due to surrounded by dens trees. They offer night trail to see Loris for a cost of per person 1500. But prefer to call them at least a day before and check on sighting. Normal day trail is 100 per person. If you are a bird lover visit early morning. When you are walking you can hear lots and birds and insects. The staff who maintain gives a brief explanation on the history and and track which is so helpful. A not much recognised but valued place in Dambulla.

Nice place to see some wild life. Excellent for birdwatching. Little forest to relax and enjoy the true wilderness. There are several animals around. Not like in a very big forest but certainly a walk around the land would give you the forest. Really goodbye for biodiversity students and who are interested in wildlife.

Really good place to stay. Can get unique experience about flora and fauna. Automatic meals offer here.

A very good place to visit who loves nature and wildlife. A best place for researchers and photographers. Very friendly staff and we received a warm welcome and hospitality. You can learn more about a lot of animal species here. There are good affordable cottages as well. Overall very satisfied.

Place where soul meets its peace on earth. Nature abundant with flora and fauna! Forest bathing and dark sky gazing! Ideal city escape to greeny nature!

Bawa's one of the most unique architectural masterpiece. It shows another level of his architecture.

A great, one time experience in life. Really thrilling to walk through the forest looking for those nocturnal animals and creatures. Great guides make it more interesting

Nice place for nature lovers with a historical value, you can watch many kinds of birds. Managed by the institute of fundamental studies Sri Lanka. Very helpful staff and accomodation is also available.

Calm and quite place. Tickets are priced at Rs. 250 per person. There is a car park. Four paths available ranging from 900m to 2kms, if I'm not mistaken. There are night tours as well. [Update from their leaflet]: This unique site was owned by an Englishman, Mr. F. H. (Sam) Popham, who gifted it to the NIFS (then IFS) in 1989 to carry out research and educational activities. The original site bought by Popham in 1963 was a 7.5-acre-scrub jungle. Popham allowed the indigenous tree saplings in the site to emerge and establish themselves by removing the 'weedy' shrubs around them. Consequently, the scrub jungle was transformed into a dry zone woodland with a closed canopy. After taking over the land in 1989, NIFS acquired another 27 acres of adjoining scrubland to expand the Arboretum. Popham's method of "Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR)" was practised to convert the newly acquired land into dense woodland as well. On account of its signifcance as a benchmark site for ANR, many forest ecologists and btanists use NIFS-SPA as a research site. In addition to being a benchmark site for ANR, it is also a popular tourist destination owing to the presence of unique fauna with rich bird life and some unique animals such as the Slender Loris and Pangolin. Activities and Facilities include, Day safaris - Walk through four nature trails that are colour coded as Green (900m in length with three bridges), Blue (1.2km in length with one bridge and few steps to climb up the rock and climb down along the rock), Pink (1.4km in length with 1 bridge and 1 causeway) and Yellow (2.3 km in length with 2 bridges). Open daily from 8am to 6pm. Night safaris - The guided Lois Safaris beign at 7pm and end at 9pm during which visitors may be able to see nocturnal animals such as the Gray Slender Loris, Night Jars, Pangolin, Civet and Fishing Cats. Accommodation and Camping - A camping site is available for interested parties through prior reservations. Three rooms with basic facilities are available for overnight stays. Educational Programmes and Research - are conducted on request. Research on dry zone vegetation, restoration ecology, animal behaviour, microorganisms, carbon sequencing and taxonomic studies on flora are encouraged in the Arboretum after prior approval from NIFS.

A lesser known attraction that lies close to the Dambulla Cave Temple. An Arboretum is simply a botanical garden for trees and the specialty of Popham's Arboretum is that it is completely naturally regenerated. The fertile soil and tropical climes of the resplendent isle of Sri Lanka make the natural regeneration possible. Spend half a day amidst the trees hiking through one or all of four trails with the crickets chirping in your ears. Join the night loris watching safaris if you are a fan of the furry big eyed creatures.

friendly staff with lots of stuff anyone can enjoy,relax,research..we went one night trail and one morning walk to this small forest..but we found it very useful way.we could observed 3 loris,one ash color civet ,frogs and lots of insects..in my entire life time this trail was the most enjoyable night trail i have ever been..we picked yellow trail at night and green trail for morning..

We loved the night safari! We went at 19:00 with our baby and toddler and the experience was great for them also! The guide was incredible, spotting Loris’ across a field up in a tree in the dark (!) and we managed to see two as well as different types of deer. We went only for an hour (little children’s legs) but the guide was clearly eager to show us around longer so we could see more. Highly recommended, it’s a worthy and unique setup that is really deserving of support!

This is a must visit place around Dambulla for nature lovers. Many different animals inside a relatively small space. However, the yellow route we took, took around 1hour to walk. There are many places around to snap a nice photo. The caretaker is very informative. You can give a donation of your choice to help maintain the place