Hike Singapore – The MacRitchie Reservoir

Exploring Singapore’s MacRitchie Reservoir offers a unique escape into nature right in the heart of the city. This iconic spot was built in 1868 as Singapore’s first water supply system. Now, it is a haven for hikers and nature lovers. MacRitchie is known for its lush greenery and tranquil waters. It also boasts the famous Treetop Walk. It combines urban convenience with the serenity of the wild. You can enjoy a peaceful stroll or take on the challenging treetop trail.

The Treetop hike offers a mix of forest paths, boardwalks, and a suspension bridge. The highlight is the Treetop Walk. It is a 250m-long suspension bridge towering 25m above the forest floor. It provides panoramic views. The loop is moderately challenging with some inclines, so pack water, wear sturdy shoes, and enjoy the immersive nature experience!

• Distance: 11km. 
• Time: 4 hours
• Grade: moderate

Trip notes

It was a very humid day in Singapore the day we decided to go for a hike at MacRitchie Reservoir. The kids needed some convincing to go. They preferred visiting universal studios or Sentosa island. But with a little arm twisting, and negotiating we were on our way.

We traveled to the park by MRT to Caldecott station on the Circle Line (orange). The trains are always easy to navigate. With Google Maps, I find it easy to get anywhere independently. Once you get off at the station simply follow your map on foot.

When we arrived, we started our hike from the Reservoir Car Park on the southeast side. There is a nice place to eat here called Mushroom Cafe. We didn’t stop for food. We did grab a couple of drinks for the hike. We already had some snacks in our backpacks. As I mentioned it was pretty humid, so hydration was important.

Following the path, we found huge leaves that my kids thought were brilliant. Then around 1km into our hike we met our first monitor lizard and soon after our first Macaque monkeys.

The monkeys pretty much keep to themselves. so we thought! But more on that later. There are plenty of signs warning you not to feed the monkeys or walk around openly eating food.

After about 5km we reached the northern end of the Trail where the Treetop section starts. As you can see this is such a great suspension bridge. It connects the two highest points, Bukit Peirce and Bukit Kalang and provides a beautiful view.

So more about monkeys.

I took time to take this beautiful photo of this monkey. He watched back at us while I was happy with this silhouette. “Thank you, Mr. Monkey”. But then while walking across the bridge, he jumped on my son’s head. He attempted to steal our backpacks. We didn’t have any opened food in the bags. but he knew exactly what he was looking for.

This photo was taken just after the monkey jumped on my son’s head. You can tell from the look on the boys’ faces that they were not impressed (laugh).

After the bridge and overcoming our Monkey trauma, we walked down along a beautiful boardwalk with many stairs. The boardwalk sits in the middle of the dense jungle making for some great photos. The kids also had a lot of fun in this area jumping down the stairs as they walked. I am glad we were going down all the stairs and not up though.

I definitely recommend this hike. Apart from our monkey scare, which is now a great story, we had a great adventure. It is easy to get to and is definitely a nice way to spend a day like the locals do.

Keep you hiking memories in one of our hiking journals.