Trek the Southern Ridges of Singapore and experience the outdoors from hill to hill.
From the centre of Singapore, a series of low-lying hills stretch run along the western coastline. Closest to town is Mount Faber and heading westward, there are Telok Blangah Hill and Bukit Chandu among others.
Collectively, these series of hills and parks form the Southern Ridges Walk and with various park connectors, provide trails for avid trekkers that stretches for about 10 km.
On the Trail of the Southern Ridges Walk
Mount Faber
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Mount Faber is a good starting point for a walk along the Southern Ridges. With HarbourFront MRT at the base of the hill, Mount Faber is easily accessible by public transport.
Start by taking the Marang Trail up Mount Faber. When you get to Faber Point at the top of Mount Faber, you can enjoy views of Keppel Harbour and Sentosa.
Telok Blangah Hill Park
From Faber Point, follow the signs that point the way towards Telok Blangah Hill Park. To get to Telok Blangah Hill Park, you will need to cross Henderson Waves, the highest pedestrian bridge in Singapore.
Cut across to the other side of Telok Blangah Hill Park and you will arrive at the metal elevated walkway of the Forest Walk. Follow the metal walkway downwards to reach the Gilman Barracks area.
From here, you have the choice of branching off towards Labrador Nature Reserve or crossing the leaf-shaped Alexandra Arch bridge to head towards Hort Park and Kent Ridge Park.
HortPark
HortPark is a gardening-focused park that occupies the valley between Telok Blangah Hill and Kent Ridge Park. It is a pretty park to wander through and provides variation to the otherwise hilly terrain of the Southern Ridges walk.
Kent Ridge Park
Hort Park connects to Kent Ridge Park. By ascending a pathway from HortPark, you will reach Kent Ridge Park or Pasir Panjang Ridge as it was previously known. This area is the site of one of the last and fiercest battles fought during the World War II Battle of Singapore.
From Kent Ridge Park, you can exit on to Science Park Drive and walk past the buildings of Science Park 1 to reach Kent Ridge MRT at National University of Singapore.
Extending Your Southern Ridges Trek
If you wish to experience more of the ridges, one way to extend your trek is to make your way across the National University of Singapore towards Clementi Woods Park.
The hilly Kent Ridge campus of National University of Singapore is more urban jungle than a nature park. For an added challenge try navigating your way through its corridors rather than using the main roads.
At the other end of the National University of Singapore is Clementi Woods Park, a small hillside park within close proximity of West Coast Park.
The entire Southern Ridges walk can take between 3 to 5 hours to walk, depending on your pace and whether you decide to take breaks along the way. It is well marked out and well laid out in the form of footpaths and walkways. Do expect to do a fair bit up walking up and down as you ascend and descend the different hill sections.
It can also be experienced in shorter sections as well. For example, you can make the trek from Mount Faber to Hort Park, or from Kent Ridge Park to Telok Blangah Hill Park instead of the entire Southern Ridges walk.