This twin St. Clair’s waterfall cascades over three rock outcrops into a massive pool and it is most conveniently seen by travellers on Hatton – Talawakelle Road. This beautiful and popular fall is located among tea gardens, transmits a large volume of water, and is the widest waterfall in the country. The fall is sited over 500 metres away from the road, and one needs to walk down among tea bushes at a steep slope to reach it.

The proposed Upper Kotmale Hydro Power Project will affect the water resources of St Clair’s but for the benefit of the public a limited quantity of water will be released to prevent complete disappearance of the fall. Downstream to the main fall is a second waterfall of 50 m in height called Kuda Ella, which is best visible at the curve near 90 km post. At this point, though far, complete fall of St. Clair’s is visible including the last section that was partly hidden.

St. Clair’s fall is billed as Sri Lanka’s Niagara, or ‘king of waterfalls’ due to its outstanding beauty. It is 80m in height and at 50m wide, and consists of two segments, known as ‘Big St. Clair’ and ‘Small St. Clair’. Created by the Kotmale River, a tributary of the Mahaweli River, it flows down a slope through an abandoned tea estate that covers hundreds of hectares. The main fall is located 3 kms from Talawakelle.