Get out and about on one of the CDC Walking Trails and get to know Singapore’s neighbourhoods and places better. Walking Trails @ CDC is an initiative by the five Community Development Councils (CDCs) in collaboration with Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech Singapore). It aims to encourage community engagement and an active lifestyle.
Walking Trails @ CDC: What is It?
Walking Trails @ CDC is a initiative that combines walking along physical routes around Singapore with digital gamification. It is a reason to head outdoors – either on your own or with a group of family and friends – to stay active and also learn about places around Singapore.
While on the Walking Trails @ CDC trails, you will have to visit various checkpoints, complete some simple tasks online and have the option to catch virtual creatures known as Ollies as a bonus.
You can think of it like a structured Pokemon Go with a dose of trivia thrown in.
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There are a total of five curated trails corresponding to the five districts in Singapore: Central Singapore, North East, North West, South East and South West.
For an added kick, there is the opportunity to earn vouchers for completing each trail and finding the Ollies, while stocks last.
The Walking Trails @ CDC Experience
We decided to try out the North West CDC walking trail.
The starting point of the trail was the walkway outside Cashew MRT station.
Before we embarked on the trail, we needed to gain access to the Walking Trails@CDC’s phygital interface on our phone browser. This is available to Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents aged 15 years and above, with a SingPass account and CrowdTaskSG account.
Therefore, we had to sign in with our SingPass and create a CrowdTaskSG account from the Walking Trails @ CDC website. This took us around five minutes to set up.
We also needed to enable Precise Location permission on our browser.
Each walking trail has five checkpoints. The phygital interface shows a map with the five checkpoints and it was left to us to decide how to navigate to each checkpoint.
The first checkpoint on the North West CDC walking trail was the Cashew MRT Station – an easy start to the adventure.
We had to complete two tasks to complete at this (and every) checkpoint.
The first task was to follow the instructions and take a picture. This was easy enough to do.
The second task was to answer a multiple choice question about Cashew MRT station. Apparently, it does not matter if you get the answer wrong – it more important to learn something about the place instead. Nonetheless, it is an interesting way to pick up some local knowledge.
Checkpoint Number 2
Then, it was off to our next checkpoint at Hillview. This was very straightforward to navigate to as we just made our way down Upper Bukit Timah Road. After completing the two tasks at the checkpoint, we then entered into the Rail Corridor.
Along the trail, there are additional spots where “Ollies” can appear. Ollies are special characters that can be found and collected along the trail as a side quest.
When close to the point where Ollies spawn, we could click on the point on the phygital interface on our phone. Then, there was a slider bar at the bottom of the Ollie image that can be slid to the right to find out if the Ollie can be caught.
Just a note that initially, we were unable to find the bar because there was a yellow maintenance alert banner that appeared at the top of the page. If that happens to you, close the yellow banner, scroll down and you will find the bar that you can slide to the right.
Sometimes, we were able to collect the Ollie at the spawn point, and in other points, the Ollie ran away leaving us empty handed.
Collect five Ollies along the trail redeem a $5 voucher (while stocks last).
Checkpoint Number 3
The next checkpoint took us off the Rail Corridor and to the Singapore Quarry. It was a bit of detour from the Rail Corridor but worth while to get a view of the beautiful quarry.
Checkpoints Number 4 and 5
We then made our way to checkpoints 4 and 5, dutifully completing the photo task and quiz along the way.
The North East CDC trail ends at the Bukit Timah Railway Station node along the Rail Corridor.
On completing all the tasks, we claimed our North West CDC Trail badge. As we were one of the first 5,000 to complete the task, we also received a $5 RedeemSG Reward.
We could have received an additional $5 RedeemSG Reward if we were able to find five Ollies along the trail. Unfortunately, it seemed that we did not have luck on our side and we were only able to collect four Ollies – they kept disappearing before we could catch them!
How Far is It?
In total, we had covered around 5.5 km and walked around 8,000 to 9000 steps on the North West CDC trail. It took us around 1.5 hours and we were walking fairly quickly. If you were to take your time or have young children with you, it could take around two hours to complete.
The North West CDC trail is the longest of the five CDC Walking Trails.
Here is a summary of the various trails start and end points, and distances:
Central Singapore
Start Point: Kreta Ayer Square
End Point: Fort Canning Centre
Distance: approx. 4.7km
North East
Start Point: Punggol Waterway Point
End Point: Punggol Digital District
Distance: approx. 4.5km
North West
Start Point: Walkway outside Cashew MRT
End Point: Bukit Timah Railway Station
Distance: approx. 5.5km
South East
Start Point: Fort Tanjong Katong
End Point: Siglap Canal Lookout Deck
Distance: approx. 4.9km
South West
Start Point: Park outside Beauty World MRT
End Point: Little Guilin
Distance: approx. 4.35km
Final Thoughts on the Walking Trails @ CDC
Overall, we thought that Walking Trails @ CDC was a good initiative and provided a reason for family and friends to head outdoors together. We saw different groups embarking on the trail together, making it into a social affair.
While some may be initially attracted by the lure of the vouchers, we felt that it was just a small bonus and hopefully it would not be the main reason why people go on the walking trails (they are very limited in quantity anyway).
For us, the main reasons why we would embark on the walking trails would be to stay active and have something to rally family and friends to do.
At the end of the trail, there was a survey form asking what other trails we would like to see. Hopefully that means that there will be more trails in time to come.
Ready to go walking? Find out more and get started with Walking Trails @ CDC.
