🥾 Hiking Bukit Timah Hill

In March, I went on a holiday to Singapore and Taiwan. Singapore has made an appearance many times in my travels, but Taiwan was a new adventure, which I’m looking forward to sharing more about. In summary, the food there was good, and very cheap! Keeping the focus on Singapore, though, I was determined to make my visit a different (and I suppose better—we always want to have a good time travelling, don’t we?) experience to my previous visits. I travelled solo, although I met up with my friend Daniel (a Singapore local), and we spent a couple of days sightseeing and attending local events. Daniel and I have known each other for over fifteen years, and this time I wanted to spend more time with them as well as go on a few solo outdoor adventures. My previous visits were with family or a partner, and were focused on food, shopping, and ticking off local sights.

People don’t often think of Singapore as having many outdoor activities. The country has a humid climate that makes being outside rather unbearable, although it’s fair to say that some people would get used to that. In fact, one of the reasons for not enjoying Singapore in the past was the climate. I love the country but cannot stand the humidity. This time, I was determined to challenge myself, like I have done with ridiculous things like hiking in Phoenix in peak summer. Travel has made me realise I am capable of more than I think am able. I just have to remember to still be reasonable, because I am also known to do spontaneous hikes. 😅

Daniel greeted me at the airport on arrival and I was craving Shake Shack, so I ordered a meal in Jewel Changi and then we looked in the Gundam store. I was too tired to check out much else, but I also made sure to withdraw some cash (card payments are accepted in many places, but just in case). I should mention that I was craving Shake Shack because Australia only got its first Shake Shack store in Melbourne recently, and my flight was with the budget airline Scoot, so I had to pay for any meals on the 8 hour flight and I just wasn’t down with that. I was snacking on my DIY trail mix that I had in my backpack, ready for hikes… I gotta say, doing a long haul flight on a budget airline humbled me, because I hadn’t done that in a while, but I chose that option due to flight timing and making use of discounts.

A cheeseburger with a beef patty, tomato, cheese, lettuce, and tomato — Tasted so good LOL 🍔

An indoor vertical waterfall with the top in a funnel shape and the water coming down in the shape of a tube. Installed lights illuminate the water in a cyan blue. — Good old water feature at Jewel Changi 💎

I like to adjust to the local time immediately, so I had my beauty sleep at my hotel with the intent of climbing Bukit Timah Hill the next morning. What better thing to do than to climb up to Singapore’s highest natural point. It is only 163 metres, though. I jumped onto the MRT first thing, and was already sweating before 7:00am just from walking outside for 5 minutes. Singapore humidity, I’m coming for ya. I was armed with my lightly used hiking shoes (that had only seen one hike in Adelaide so far), a new set of activewear with running shorts that had pockets, and my iconic bone-coloured Will and Bear hat.

I exited the MRT at Beauty World station, then it was a short walk to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, part of it using an overpass over the busy road. It probably took about 40 minutes to get from my hotel to the start of the hike.

A view of a multi-lane road just after sunrise, with the sky coloured a grey-blue and yellow closer to the horizon — One view of the road from the overpass

Another view of the same road from the previous photo, with a communication tower in the distance — View in the other direction

A lush green park with many trees, with a small road, and a small overpass over a tunnel in the background — Close to entering the nature reserve

I used the AllTrails app to double check the hiking route. After doing some research, I opted to go to the summit via the south trail through nature, rather than walking up the very steep paved path. Not long after passing the giant rock marking Bukit Timah Nature Reserve at the entrance to the park, the trail is off to the right.

A giant rock with “Bukit Timah Nature Reserve” painted on it in white. There is a board with some information in the background, a building to the left, and a trail leading up to the back right. — Big rock marking the entrance to the reserve

I’m not a big fan of hikes that are mostly paved paths. I think they are a bit of a cop-out and don’t offer that much of a challenge. I’m also not a fan of hikes that are mostly paved stairs, since they can actually make a hike more difficult due to the mechanics of walking up stairs compared to putting one foot in front of another on a steep hill.

A paved path in a rainforest setting, with some yellow and orange leaves on the path. — Well shaded trail from the beginning

I was pleasantly surprised to find that most of the trail was very well shaded and felt like a rainforest. Some of the trail was a bit damp. There were a couple of shelters on the way and the trail was pretty clear of any obstacles. At the time I went in the early morning, it wasn’t busy, but there were quite a few locals running or getting exercise and it seemed like this might have been a regular location for them.

A high angle selfie of a person wearing a light coloured fedora style hat, purple coloured sports bra and running shorts, on a hiking trail with some large tree roots in the path and some stairs built into the ground — Little bit muddy on some spots

A small stream of water in a rainforest setting, dripping down over a shallow wall. — Small stream of water going to the side of the trail

I didn’t spot any interesting wildlife. I did come across a small stream of water. There were quite a few sets of stairs, but nothing unfamiliar to me. The trail connected back up to the main paved road but also connected to other longer trails. It was a peaceful and pretty quick hike despite encountering a couple of people.

A view through rainforest trees with the sun beaming through some of them — Same-same views on most of the hike, but again, well shaded

A brown painted signpost on a hike indicating the summit via the main road, and another route for the summit path — I could either walk up the main road or go up a huge bunch of stairs at this point—I chose the stairs

There truly wasn’t much of a view at the top, and not too many interesting photo opportunities during the hike. There was a photo opportunity at the summit, of course. I can see why people might enjoy hiking this hill for the exercise, though.

Me wearing a light coloured fedora style hat and purple sports bra and running shorts, with animal print hiking boots, my arms outstretched to the sides. I am next to a giant rock with “Bukit Timah Summit” painted on it, as well as the coordinates of the location. — A little bit out of breath because I asked someone for a photo immediately 😆 She helpfully took a whole handful of different photos

After having a snack from my trail mix and dried fruit, I chose to walk the paved path on the way down. The steepness of the climb became very apparent from here—I hadn’t realised how steep it was while I was ascending on the trail. You do have to walk down carefully. There was even a sign warning people to not run down the hill but I did see someone running albeit controlling their speed to slow down. It was giving the classic Victoria Peak in Hong Kong, which is incredibly steep and at least double the elevation of Bukit Timah Hill (it makes sense that they have a tram to go to and from the summit). I can understand why AllTrails suggested ascending via the paved road and then probably enjoying the trail to head back down after a big workout, as it’s a bit easier to tolerate than watching your footing constantly on a steep descent. But I still preferred my way. 😉

A paved path going downhill and winding to the right, in a rainforest. There are wooden railings on the left side. — Steep hills are always so difficult to capture in photos, but this was the decline on the way down.

I’m sure there is more to the nature reserve as I could see other trails, and maps do show that there is a bit more to explore, but doing this hike was my main goal as I had plans with Daniel later that day. Satisfied with my experience, I hopped back on the MRT and was able to have breakfast at my hotel as soon as I returned. Until I checked in, I had forgotten that I’d booked accomodation with breakfast included, so I was pleasantly surprised at myself. I must have done that knowing that sometimes I plan poorly with meals when travelling, so including breakfast is good because at least the option is there. It ended up being perfect for the days I was heading out early and needed to eat something beforehand.

A plate of food set on a table, with a folded omelette, salad, and a croissant. — Post-workout omelette and croissant 🥐

I would probably consider going back to Bukit Timah as it is pretty accessible in terms of location and transport. Singapore has a handful of other parks worth exploring. Some are urban parks with accessible paths, while others are more dense in vegetation and have rougher terrain.

Overall as an experienced hiker I’d rate this hike about a 6.5 out of 10. It’s a good hike and is challenging, and nice that it’s well shaded, but it is over very quickly and you don’t see much of a view. I think you could make it more enjoyable if you went at a slower pace, but I was full of energy and moved really fast.