Mention the word “MacRitchie” and nature and the outdoors immediately comes to mind. There are plenty of MacRitchie trails or walks where you enjoy the calm waters of Singapore’s first impounding reservoir or its lush green forest.
Just at the edge of the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, MacRitchie Reservoir Park offers a good starting point to venture out for a walk, and it is up to you how far or hard you want to make your MacRitchie walk.
Here are three levels of walks and trails that you can take using MacRitchie Reservoir Park as your starting point.
Easy MacRitchie Walk: Around the Reservoir Park
If your plan is for a leisurely walk with the family, we suggest sticking to the MacRitchie Reservoir Park.
You can enjoy the sights like the iconic Zig-Zag Bridge and the water walk and take the foot paths up the hill to view the waters of the reservoir.
At the western end of MacRitchie Reservoir Park is the Lim Bo Seng Memorial Tomb. There are also large raintrees which provide a measure of shade.
Take a stroll along the water’s edge to reach the eastern end of the park. Along the way, you can view some of the machinery which controls the release of water from the reservoir.
At the eastern end of walk is where Paddle Lodge at MacRitchie is located and you may even be able spot kayakers out on their boats.
Intermediate MacRitchie Walk: Lornie Trail
Want to experience more of what MacRitchie has to offer? We recommend taking the Lornie Trail at the western end of the park.
Some will remember this as the dreaded cross-country route where they had to walk-run 4.8 km while in school.
You can either take the wooden boardwalk which skirts the water or the MacRitchie trail which runs through the forest. The forest trail’s terrain is more undulating than the boardwalk.
To get the best of both worlds, take the forested Lornie Trail out from MacRitchie Reservoir Park and return using the boardwalk.
Another option is to make use of the Lornie Nature Corridor, a park connector which runs along Lornie Road.
The distance from the start of the Lornie Trail out and back is around 4 km.
Difficult MacRitichie Hike: Round the Reservoir
To get immersed in what MacRitchie has to offer, try hiking a loop around MacRitchie Reservoir.
The trek will cover a distance of around 11 km which will take you around 3 to 4 hours, depending on how fast you walk.
From MacRitchie Reservoir Park, you can choose to go either clockwise along the Lornie Trail or anti-clockwise along the MacRitchie Nature Trail up towards Venus Drive.
To help you keep track of the distance you have covered, there are signposts along the way. On this MacRitchie hike, the paths are pretty well marked but expect areas with loose gravel and uneven paths as you walk through the Central Catchment area.
Read more about our experience here.
MacRitchie Trails: Something for Everyone
So there you have it. Three levels of MacRitchie trails. Whether you want to have a casual stroll or a good dose of nature, MacRitchie has something for everyone.
No wonder it is such a popular spot for nature-lovers. Watch out for the macaques though!
