Bordered by the Mahaweli River and the Amban River, Wasgamuwa National Park is located in the districts of Matale & Polonnaruwa. Located approximately 225 km from the Colombo City and 50km away from the Hill Capital Kandy, it was originally designated as a game sanctuary in about 1907 and in 1938 was declared as a strict nature reserve. In 1984 this was declared as Wasgamuwa National Park mainly for the purpose of biodiversity conservation.

The name of the Wasgamuwa has derived through the words "Walas Gamuwa". "Walasa" is Sinhala for Sloth bear and "Gamuwa" means a wood. So as name suggest, the Sloth Bear is one of the main attraction of this National Park.

Tropical dry mixed evergreen forest predominats, characterized by trees. Dense forests cover the hilly ridges and there is well developed forest along the major river courses. In the southeastern and eastern parts of the park are extensive open plains.

The known fauna of Wasgamuwa National Park comprises 23 species of mammals, 143 species of birds (including 8 endemics), 35 species of reptiles (7 endemics), 15 species of amphibians, 17 species of fish and 52 species of butterflies. Elephants, Sloth bears and Leopards are the main attractions of the Wasgamuwa National park and Golden Jackal, Water Buffalos, Slender Loris, Wild Boars and few species of deer can be seen. Noteworthy birds including Sri Lanka Jungle Fowl, Sri Lanka Trogon, Racquet Tailed Drogo, Sri Lanka Super Fowl, Yellow Fronted Barbet etc… occur in the plains. Reptiles like Common monitors, mugger crocodiles, estuarine crocodiles and pythons can be found in Wasgamuwa national Park. Among endemic reptiles, the lizards like Red lipped Lizard and Earles’s Lizard also found here.