Uda Walawe National Park Is a major eco tourism destination in Sri Lanka. This 30,821 hectare dry zone game park's main attraction is the many elephants (about 400 in total). It is not unusual to see whole herds of adults and young elephants feeding or bathing and playing in the water. The park is also home to water buffalo, water monitors, lizards, sambhur deer, monkeys and the occasional leopard, as well as being an exciting location for bird enthusiasts. A 4WD open-top safari jeep is an ideal way to see the park.

The avifauna include large numbers of warblers together with the usual low country birds in forested areas, and a variety of raptors. Water birds found on the reservoir include rare visitors such as the Indian cormorant and osprey. Notable endemic species are Sri Lanka spur fowl, Sri Lanka jungle fowl, Malabar pied hornbill, endemic gray hornbill and brown-capped babbler.

The Park is home to the 3000 hectare Uda Walawe reservoir, deep and continuously replenished by the never drying Walawe river, which draws most of its water from the wooded Peak Wilderness sanctuary, the Horton Plains Nature reserve and the Haputale area.