Saasdia Travel Gid

Having already explored some of the more famous destinations in Singapore on previous visits, I decided that this time I wanted to explore a little bit more of the nature on offer in the country, away from the main tourist trail.

I settled on a 10km hike to fill my day, taking me up Mount Faber, across Telok Blangah Hill Park, over the Henderson Waves, through to Hort Park and finishing off with a Canopy Walk. Sounded perfect – but spoiler alert, this walk did not go to plan!!

That said, it was still one of the best days I had on my most recent trip to Singapore, so if you’re looking for something a bit “different” to do on your visit, then I highly recommend it as an option!

Want to read more about Singapore? Read my recommended itinerary: HERE.

Walk Information

• The hike is 10km long, and takes 3-5 hours depending on your level of fitness.
• The hike starts at the bottom of the Marang Trail, accessible from the Harbourfont MRT station.
• Alternatively on the Grab taxi app, select drop off point “Mount Faber Park Car Park Marang Road” if you are being dropped off by a taxi.
• I completed this hike solo and had no issues; I didn’t get lost, it’s well signed, and I never felt unsafe even in parts of the trail where I was alone.
• Wear comfortable shoes and sensible clothing. Take lots of water, suncream, a hat, and an umbrella if you can.
• The walk terrain varies from flat to quite steep, especially in the first section.
• That said, all sections are easy to navigate; either on clear trails, roads, or steps. No climbing is needed so overall a moderate level of fitness is fine.

Top Tip: Singapore gets super hot in the heat of the day, so I recommend starting the hike early (around 8am) to ensure you finish before lunch time. Alternatively you could start in the evening, but sections of the trail aren’t lit, so be sure to take a torch if so.

Walking Route

Marang Trail

The Marang Trail is the start point of the walk. Just to the right of a car park, the trail takes you up some steps surrounded by trees. Along this section of the walk you will probably see (or at least hear) a wide variety of birds, and you may also encounter wild monkeys. I didn’t see any, but if you do, don’t engage with them or have any food/drink on show!

As I was hiking solo, it was a bit disconcerting to have these trails to myself surrounded by dense rainforest – if something bad were to happen, no-one would have even heard me scream. I was perfectly safe and saw no-one, but it’s always sad to think that as a woman that was my first thought.

Faber Walk

The Marang Trail brings you out on to Faber Walk, on to which you turn left along the road, enjoying the views as you go. Follow the paved walkways to enjoy spectacular views of the southern part of Singapore and the Southern Islands as you circle Mount Faber Peak.

You will also notice that there is a cable car servicing Mount Faber Peak – so if you don’t want to climb up, you could take the easier route!

Faber Point

Faber Point lies just off to the right of the path on Faber Walk. Here you can find a lovely look out point, with glorious views all around – plus a replica Merlion! I also liked all the arrows on the floor so you could see what direction you were facing in relation to other South East Asian countries.

Henderson Waves

From Faber Point, follow the signs down through the woodland trail to the main road and cross over to Henderson Waves, on the site of an old nutmeg plantation. The distinctive wave-like pedestrian bridge was built to improve connectivity between nature areas. A series of seven undulating “ribs” double up as a nice place to sit and enjoy the views (or drink some water and try to control the sweat in the heat)!

Alkaff Mansion & Telok Blangah Hill Park

After walking over the Waves, you follow the path downwards through more tree covered walkways. This brings you down to Telok Blangah Hill Park where you could divert off to explore a therapeutic garden, terrace garden or the stream pond. I didn’t do this as 10km is already quite far in the heat, and these diversions would add quite a bit more distance. Instead, I made a short diversion off to the Alkaff Mansion, a unique conservation mansion restored by the Singapore Tourism Board which serves food and drink.

Forest Walk

Well, it’s here that sadly my walk went horribly wrong. After following the road upwards (all the signs point you to “forest walk”), the entrance to the next stage of the walk was closed. Sadly, the Forest Walk had been partially swept away in a landslide due to heavy rain, and looks likely to remain closed for a while! I managed to get a shot from the road, and I’m gutted to have missed it as it looks lovely.

Hort Park

What’s a girl to do? Well – the diversion on the sign took me back where I’d come from, and then along a main road which I didn’t want to do. So I did what any respecting hiker would do and called a taxi (!!!). Thankfully, the forest walk entrance is right by a car park so I was picked up from there and escorted to the next spot on the walk for just S$5.

I arrived at Hort Park to a thunderstorm. Luckily I had an umbrella with me so I was able to keep plodding on. Hort Park is a lovely area, full of miniature little gardens and well worth a bit of an explore. It’s even a growing garden for Gardens by the Bay, home to row upon row of greenhouses and outdoor growing areas.

Canopy Walk

Past the Prototype Glasshouses right at the end of Hort Park is a park connector path that links HortPark to Kent Ridge Park. You wind up it, and then pop out where you can see the Canopy walkway above you. Turn back on yourself up to the main road to get to the entrance to the canopy walk (opposite Reflections at Bukit Chandu Museum).

The canopy walk is a lovely elevated trail through the Southern Ridges, enjoying secondary rain forest at eye-level. It takes about 10 minutes to explore the long boardwalk that links Hort Park to Kent Ridge Park, and the end of the walk.

Reflections at Bukit Chandu

Instead of finishing the walk at Kent Ridge Park, I actually doubled back on myself back along the Canopy Walk to come back to the Bukit Chandu Museum. The museum tells the story of the Malay Regiment killed in the Battle of Singapore during WW2 who took a stand here against the Japanese – choosing death over dishonour. All bar one person who fought here was killed in the battle. I was very moved in the museum reading the stories of bravery.

After all that, I ordered a Grab taxi to pick me up and take me back to my hotel. In total the walk (with a cheat taxi ride for about 3km), plus the museum, took me 4 hours.

As you can see, I had pretty much the entire walk (and museum) to myself. It was well off the beaten track, and wonderful to explore another side to Singapore. I would definitely recommend this hike as an option to anyone visiting Singapore and looking for something a bit different. What do you think? Let me know in the comments below!

Stay safe and happy travelling!