Beddagana Wetland Park – A Hidden Beauty in Colombo

Hi all, hope you are doing well. Today, let us talk about a hidden beauty in Colombo District, which is very less known about by the locals even. That is Beddagana Wetland Park. It is a nice place to have calm walk and to see diverse wetland plants & animals (birds mostly). You can feel the genuine experience of a wetland here in Beddagana Wetland Park, since the place is remained untouched.

Beddagana Wetland Park Name Board

We have talked about another park built on a wetland very recently. That is Diyatha Uyana in Battaramulla. Both the parks are bordered by the same lake, Diyawanna Oya. But they are very much different in nature. Diyatha Uyana is a developed park, constructed on a wetland, to contain a large number of people at once and to facilitate exercisers (so land is filled up mostly), where Beddagana Wetland Park is literally a wetland. There are footpaths and some huts, other than that, it is all a wetland.

The park is situated in ‘Beddagana’ (that is how it gets its name),

The entrance and the parking area are at a corner of the park. You don’t have to worry about parking spaces, there are plenty of space. To reach the ticketing counter, you have to walk little far into the park. It is because the arrangement of the park has changed recently with opening of the car park. The first thing you will meet in Beddagana Wetland Park, is ‘Migratory Birds Trail’.

Migratory Bird Trail

Migratory birds trail sign board

Ducks in Beddagana Wetland Park

It is basically an open area filled with plants and small trees and a natural water reservoir and marshland in the center. There are a number of types of birds around that water body. Most of them are said to be migratory birds. You will see birds here through out the year, but in migratory birds’ season, you will see a whole lot of birds here. Due to which, Beddagana Wetland Park is highly sought after by bird lovers.

Purple Swamphen on Marsh

Beddagana Wetland Park

Beautiful Bird

Footpaths are created to walk along. Make sure not to walk out of the footpaths, since the animals can be disturbed. The management has set the area up, to make animals feel like it is their natural habitat.

This is a fine example for that.

Bird Nest of Ground
A man-made bird nest on ground

A bird has laid eggs on this man-made nest since she has felt it is safe.

If you walk silent enough, you will see number of birds with their natural actions.

Purple Swamphen

Showing Off Kingfisher

Beddagana Wetland Park

You can also see number of herbal, indigenous, rare and various types of important plants and bushes are planted along the path, mixed with beautiful flower plants.

Beautiful White Flowers

Park School

At the end of the Migratory Birds Trail, you will meet a school. Yes, you heard correctly, it is the ‘Park School’. It is intended to give introductions and knowledge to small groups on bio-diversity, wetland management, conservation, etc.

Beddagana park school

Beddagana park school

When you walk passing the park school, you will reach the ticketing counter. Please note that plastic bottles and containers are not allowed in the park. If you have any of them in your possession, you have to keep them at the ticketing counter.

Beddagana Wetland Park
Entrance to the Lake Side

This is where you enter into the lake (Diyawanna Oya) side. And below is the first thing you will see once you enter the lake side. 

Notice to visitors of Beddagana park

You should definitely follow that, not only in here, but anywhere you visit.

Butterfly Walk

Signboards in the beddagana wetland park
You will see lots of this type of signboards along the park. The areas are named according to the speciality of that area.

Dark Butterfly

It is said that there are Butterflies in this area, but unfortunately I couldn’t see many. May be it is because I’m not patient enough to observe Butterflies.

Duck Pond

Duck Pond Sign board

Beddagana Wetland Park

From here you will walk above the wetland. A wooden footpath is created for people to walk without disturbing the surround. It is really a nice feeling to walk on this thing. By the sides of the footpath, there are a lot of ducks in this area. That is why it is called Duck Pond. But not only ducks, there are many other types of birds also in this area. Duck pond is the most attractive thing in the Beddagana Wetland Park.

Wooden footpaths in park

Wooden footpaths in park

As I mentioned before also, walking on these footpaths is an awesome experience. You will have to go through a lot trees, plants, vines and bushes, while you are walking above the water. Most parts of the path are shady, so you won’t find it difficult to visit this place even at the noon, unlike Diyatha Uyana and Bellanwila Park.

huts at Beddagana Park
You can be seated for a while to enjoy the surround.

Diyawanna Walk

When you pass the Duck Pond, you enter into the bank of Diyawanna Oya. You can walk along the bank up to a point, and you have to come back on the same path. They call it ‘Diyawanna Walk’.

Sight of Diyawanna Oya from the Park

Timber Deck Over Diyawanna Lake
This projected timber deck is at the end of ‘Diyawanna Walk’.

Forest Trail

After that you can enter into the ‘Forest Trail’ which is a considerably thick wetland forest. The path is so shady and brings you a unique experience.

Forest Trail in Beddagana Wetland Park

Floating Deck

At the end of the forest trail, there is another timber deck, which is larger and more beautiful than the first one. They call it ‘Diyawanna Floating Deck’.

Floating Deck at Beddagana Wetland Park
Path to the ‘Floating Deck’
View of Diyawanna Lake from Floating Deck
A view from Floating Deck

Again, you have to come back along the Forest Trail to continue the rest of the journey. Now you can take the other side of Duck Pond.

Beddagana Wetland Park

This large hut is in the middle of the Duck Pond. It adds much beauty to the site. You can observe a large area from the top of it. The sight from here is amazing at the evening when the sun is about to set.

Beddagana Wetland Park
View from the top of the hut

Beddagana Wetland Park is open from 6.30 AM to 5.30PM. To my experience the best time to feel the beauty of this is early morning or the evening.

When you walk passing this, you will reach the Butterfly Walk again, which leads you to the ticketing counter.

amazing flower macro photograph
Beautiful, right?

I guess you have an idea of Beddagana Wetland Park now. For more photos (larger), visit the complete image gallery below.

Image Gallery Banner

How to reach Beddagana Wetland Park…?

I might have convinced you to visit this lovely place. So here is the exact location of the Beddagana Wetland Park.

//Click here to book a hotel in Colombo//

There is another newly developed wetland park just like this, on the other side of the Diyawanna lake. That is Diyasaru Park. If you love this place, you will definitely love that also.

So that is about Beddagana Wetland Park, a hidden beauty in Colombo District. If you have any questions or need more details please ask me via comments. Hope to see you soon in the next post.

2 thoughts on “Beddagana Wetland Park – A Hidden Beauty in Colombo

  • 06/02/2018 at 5:02 PM
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    Does anyone can visit this park around the notified time period? Is there any payment to settle before entrance? Can we spend a few hours there by only paying that amount?

    Reply
    • 06/02/2018 at 9:37 PM
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      Yes, park is open from 6AM to 6PM for everyone. Entrance fee is Rs. 100 per person. And you can stay as much as you wish inside the park.

      Reply

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