Exploring Macritchie Nature Trail

Hey everyone!

It’s been a while since our last hiking expedition, so this week we took some time out of our busy schedules to explore a well-known nature trail in the heart of Singapore! The MacRitchie Reservoir Park is a popular place for Singaporeans to engage in healthy lifestyles, such as jogging along the reservoir, kayaking or hiking on the many nature trails surrounding the MacRitchie Reservoir!

The MacRitchie Reservoir is the oldest reservoir in Singapore, and can hold up to 465 million imperial gallons of water. There are primary and secondary forests surrounding the reservoir, and many trails exist for adventurous hikers to conquer! One of the attractions at MacRitchie Reservoir is the Treetop Walk, which offers visitors a ‘treetop’ experience and some amazing panoramic sights high above the ground. That was our initial goal, so with our usual camera companions, we headed out in the late afternoon.

dscf9388 — A stretch of landed property near the northeast entrance to the MacRitchie Nature Trail.

dscf9390 — Soon enough, we arrived at the entrance but sadly to discover that we could not make it to the Treetop Walk in time! FYI, the attraction closes at 5pm, so be sure to start your hike earlier!

dscf9393 — Sandra along the manmade walking path; it looked like the trees were forming an archway!

dscf9397 — Apart from the muddy/rocky paths, this caught our eyes; two sets of steps (which appeared to be former tree trunks) created this eyeful pathway!

dscf9408 — Construction was going on in the nature park to build sturdy boardwalks, and these hard workers laboured to clear the pathway for us! Much thanks!

dscf9413 — Spotted a familiar sight in Singapore’s nature reserves: macaques! These breed of monkeys are spotted near forested areas.

dscf9423 — The macaques appear to be ‘King of the Jungle’ around here…

dscf9426 — An adorable family of macaques just hanging about…

As mentioned, our original aim was to make it to the Treetop Walk; however it was almost reaching the closing time, and we had well over 1.5 km to go from this junction. Therefore, we decided to complete another challenging trail, which would take us around the MacRitchie Reservoir!

dscf9430 — 4.1 km!? Oh boy, this was going to be a challenge!

dscf9433 — Joggers and hikers were spotted as we traversed the narrow path along the east side of the reservoir.

dscf9434 — Occasionally, we would stop at these man-made huts to rest and take a drink of water.

dscf9439 — The canopy of this secondary forest was impressive, with skulking trees and hanging above us. The temperature noticeably cooled while walking along this path.

dscf9453 — Damian noticed a breakaway path leading to a clearing, which revealed this!

dscf9457 — Other than monkeys and the odd squirrel, we chanced upon a snake! It slithered harmlessly away from us; besides, we would never dare to go near one! Unfortunately we don’t know what species this is, so if you do, let us know!

Upon reaching the reservoir, we were greeted with a beautiful sight which aptly marked the end of our trip:

dscf9471 — Spot the paddler in the kayak?

dscf9472 — MacRitchie Reservoir is also famed for its beautiful scenic sunsets, and we were treated to a good display!

dscf9474 — Two worn-out but accomplished-feeling hikers at the end!

We had the opportunity to use our SX-70 Sonar Onestep, and utilised the B&W film from Impossible Project; check them out below!

MacRitchie Nature Park is so vast, we simply could not cover it in one day! We definitely learnt our lesson, and will come back early to access the Treetop Walk next time round. While we enjoyed our hike, it was also fun to take photos and capture the right moments where possible. We hope you have enjoyed this entry once again; if there’s anything to take away from this entry, it’s that Singapore is full of unknown and lesser-visited places, and we urge you to check them out!

Till next time,

Damianwithsandra