Marsiling Park, formerly known as Woodlands Town Garden, is located close to the Woodlands Checkpoint. The park is centred around a ponds and has several playgrounds as well as characterful pavilions and a lookout tower.
Marsiling Park: Traditional Chinese Landscape
Marsiling Park is dominated by a large pond and features trademark Chinese pavilions.
The green roofs and red pillars of the pavilions make them stand out in the midst of the park’s landscape.
These pavilions serve as rest stops for park visitors and complement the traditional-looking stone bridge that divides the pond in half.
The park is usually quite empty and quiet, likely because of its location. This makes it a peaceful spot to have a pause and just enjoy the scenery. However, you will still likely have to try to tune out the din from the Bukit Timah Expressway close by.
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, this is one of our favourite parks for a lantern walk.
Marsiling Park Playgrounds
Young visitors to Marsiling Park can have their pick of not one or two, but four play areas around the park.
The Marsiling Park Playgrounds include
- a unique butterfly-themed playground,
- a web playground,
- a musical instrument playground and
- a ribbon playscape
Each of these play spaces at Marsiling park offer different aspects of play for kids.
Butterfly Playground
Set beside the Marsiling Park pond is the Butterfly Playground.
Drawing inspiration from the many butterflies found around the park, this Marsiling Park Playground takes on the form of a larger-than-life butterfly.
An orange mound forms its body while its wings are outlined by yellow steel tubes. The surface of the butterfly playground’s wings are made of red cargo netting, laid out so that kids can climb up on.
Two “feelers” extend from the head of the butterfly with climbing “saucers” hanging off them.
Beneath the wings of the butterfly are more climbing “saucers” along with hammock swings made from ropes.
What we appreciate about the Butterfly Playground at Marsiling Park is that it designed to be low enough so that young children who may be starting to get their footing and improving their gross motor skills will find it easy enough to attempt. Or at least, it does not look as intimidating as some larger themed playgrounds that have been designed for older kids.
The Marsiling Park Butterfly Playground is located close to an actual Butterfly Corner where butterfly-attracting plants have been planted.
See if you can spot butterflies such as the Lemon Emigrants, Blue Pansy and Painted Jezebel flying around nearby.
Web Playground
Just one level up from the Butterfly Playground is a red-and-green “Web Playground”.
This rope playground is a fun obstacle course that kids can take on and see if they can conquer. It features various rope tunnels and passageways that kids can climb through.
On the padded floor are hopscotch markings for those who want o have some old-school fun.
Musical Playground
If you are wondering if there are any slides at the Marsiling Park Playgrounds, you will find them at the Musical Playground.
The playground has a lime green play tower which incorporates two slides.
It also has a cute set of crocodile and mushroom stepping stones that lead from one end of the play structure back to the middle. Perfect for kids who want to play-pretend that they have to avoid falling into the river.
However, the musical playground is so-called because of the row of musical instruments lined up facing the Marsiling Park lake. This ensemble includes tubular bells, congas, a xylophone, bell lyre and hand drums.
Kids can “jam” together at this musical setup.
Ribbon Playscape
The fourth of the Marsiling Park Playgrounds can be found in front of the eatery at Marsiling Park, up the hill from the Butterfly Playground.
Laid out over a slope, the Ribbon Playscape consists of a series of brightly-coloured tubes which incorporate seats and swings.
It provides a place that invites visitors to hang-out and chill.
Marsiling Park Lookout Tower
Another landmark at the former Woodlands Town Garden is its viewing tower.
Located at the northern end of Marsiling Park, it has also been given a facelift with a cascading, landscaped rain garden by the stairs to add a touch of colour.
You will also find echos of the look out tower’s designed at other spots in the park such as the stairways.
A View of Nature & Boardwalks
On the western side of Marsiling Park, visitors get a view of a complete mangrove ecosystem.
Along this stretch of the park, information panels explain about the different zone found within a mangrove forest ecosystem. These zones include a brackish water environment to a transition zone to the freshwater area.
Visitors who wish to get even closer to the water can head to the boardwalks that flirt around Marsiling Park’s pond. In addition to providing a close-up view of flora and fauna around the pond, the boardwalks also provide excellent views of the park’s landscape.
One fauna that is hard to miss at the park is the butterfly. There are plenty of these pretty winged insects fluttering around the park’s bushes and flowers.
Food at Marsiling Park
Amongst the other facilities that can be found at Marsiling Park is an eatery. This is Mr Teh Tarik Cartel and it has been at the park since the park was revamped back in 2018.
The Mr Teh Tarik Cartel is located next to the Ribbon Playground, right at the far end of the Marsiling Park car park.
What Else is at Marsiling Park
Other facilities at Marsiling Park include an amphitheatre, fitness area and toilets.
There is also a gym pod located within Marsiling Park for those who wish to work out amidst the tranquility of the park.
Where is Marsiling Park?
Marsiling Park is located off Woodlands Centre Road, adjacent to Bukit Timah Expressway.
For those who are driving, the entrance to the Marsiling Park car park is via Woodlands Centre Road.
Marsiling Park is located a 15-minute walk away from Marsiling MRT station.
