Click ‘+’ to zoom in and ‘-’ to zoom out. You can click and drag the map to move around. Mount Faber path can be seen in the larger map.
I decided to try the full-length Southern Ridges walk one morning with Steel Wool. We started from West Coast Park after breakfast. (No prizes for guessing where we ate.) The walk took us through five parks (West Coast Park not included as it was just the start point), one university and a science park.
The press said that this walk is about 9km. My GPS logger listed the distance travelled as almost 15km. I think 9km is the map distance, not taking into account elevation.
We were more or less alone from West Coast to NUS. Around the South Bouna Vista/Kent Ridge junction, we met a couple, a pair of ladies and a father-son duo – all clutching maps of some sort! It turned out they all needed some help with directions.
At Kent Ridge Park, there were even more couples as well as family groups. HortPark, Telok Blangah Hill Park and Mount Faber Park were full of couples, groups and families, all eager to experience Alexandra Arch and Henderson Waves. It seems that Singaporeans are quite keen on this new trail.
So, I’ve compiled a visual guide of the Southern Ridges from West Coast Park to Harbourfront.
Why not the other way, as suggested in ST’s infographic?
A few reasons (some are personal):
- Prefer to walk towards a place with more food choices.
- Prefer to walk to an end point where it’s easier to get home.
- Prefer to walk away from my workplace.
- Prefer an easier incline to start (I cannot verify until I’ve tried the opposite route though).
- Familiarity: the NUS/Kent Ridge sector is in the same direction as Pasir Panjang Heritage Walk.
My suggestions:
- Start early! It gets really hot, really fast. So start early while it’s a little cooler. Set aside
threefour hours to complete the whole walk at a moderate pace. More if you want to take in the sights. - Please bring: water (I needed 3 litres but I’m a water barrel), snacks, sunblock, a cap. Wear good walking shoes and clothes you can perspire in.
- Remember: You can choose to stop any time. There are many places where you can deviate from the route and get public transport.
- Feel free to explore: My route is not the ‘correct’ route. This is not a definitive guide. There are many alternatives, especially within each park. So, explore the options. Don’t worry about getting lost. It’s part of the fun. =)
Ok, enough preamble, let’s get to the guide.
The guide is available in different sections as individual sets in Flickr. Click the links or the photo to get to the set. Each set explains the route using photographs of major landmarks along the way and comes with relevant maps and information panels.
These were mostly taken during the walk from the many panels available along the walk. The Bridging Ridges infographic is a terrific overview. Unfortunately, it glosses over road names, which are essential for certain parts of the walk. You can also get maps of the parks from Nparks website.
West Coast Park to Clementi Woods Park
Getting to West Coast Park – Buses 175 and 176.
This short starting stretch is mainly on pavement. It involves walking from West Coast Highway via West Coast Link to West Coast Road, where Clementi Woods Park is located.
Clementi Woods Park is a small park bounded by West Coast Road and Clementi Road. The is a gradual uphill slope towards Clementi Road. There are two options here: come out by the car park or take the walking path that will lead you straight to the overhead bridge. You will have to cross this bridge to NUS.
NUS to Kent Ridge Park (via Science Park 1)
This is probably the most tricky part of the entire route. At the top of Kent Ridge Crescent in NUS, you will have to take the red-brick stairs up to Kent Ridge Road, which is partially hidden behind a lecture theatre.
At the other end of Kent Ridge Road, you have to turn to South Buona Vista Road and then cross the road to walk along Science Park Drive towards Kent Ridge Park.
Here, there are two options. This guide shows the shortcut. The other way is to walk to the end of Science Park Drive, where there is a path which will lead you to Kent Ridge Park.
At Kent Ridge Park, there are a few ways to get to Car Park B, where you will continue walking to the canopy walk. At the end of the canopy walk, there is a connector leading to HortPark.
HortPark to Telok Blangah Hill Park via Alexandra Arch
From Kent Ridge Park, you will reach the rear of HortPark. You can choose to explore HortPark on your way to Alexandra Arch or you can walk along Hyderabad Road, which is surprisingly the more shady option. This guide goes via HortPark.
Telok Blangah Hill Park to Mount Faber Park via Henderson Waves
Once across Alexandra Arch, you will be on the forest walk. There is just one main elevated pathway, with options for earth trail detours. At the end of the forest walk, you will see Car Park 1. Walk to Car Park 3 where there is a small ramp leading to Henderson Waves.
Mount Faber Park to Harbourfront MRT
From Henderson Waves, keep on walking uphill to the top of Mount Faber. You will then find Marang Trail which is a downhill section leading to one of the Harbourfront MRT entrances. Of course, you can cross the road to VivoCity or Harbourfront for a nice meal.
Enjoy the walk!
Southern Ridges walk KML file (right click, save as) | for Google Earth
matt
/ Wednesday, 21 May 2008wow..I guess you are the first few to complete the route. A good overview in yr post. BTW how long did it take u?
acroamatic
/ Wednesday, 21 May 2008I suppose so! From what I saw on the trail and have read online, most people leave out the NUS-Clementi Woods-West Coast portion.
I started at about 0830 hrs at West Coast Park and reached Harbourfront just before 1230 hrs. Four hours total at a moderate pace, including some rest stops here and there.
Will try an evening/night walk some time, just like you did.
Anthony
/ Friday, 23 May 2008Thanks for the overview. At least now there is a better guide then the one in the Straits Times.
acroamatic
/ Friday, 23 May 2008No problem, Anthony. =) I feel the ST guide is quite good. But it lacks the info on the western sector of the Southern Ridges. Just adding road names would have helped tremendously! I suppose the two bridges and the closest parks to them are what they want to highlight.
Lam Chun See
/ Saturday, 24 May 2008My wife asked me to cut out the ST article for a guide. I think your site is good enough. But I don’t think I will attemp the entire route in one go. 15 km is too much for me. Thanks.
acroamatic
/ Saturday, 24 May 2008You’re welcome, Chun See. =) Can do it in various stages. I guess for the NUS section, you can always join the Pasir Panjang Guides when we do one of our walks.
RockyRacoon
/ Sunday, 25 May 2008So which bit of the trail can I actually cycle???
acroamatic
/ Monday, 26 May 2008That’s a good question. The short answer – my opinion – is that the West Coast Park to Kent Ridge Park section is more suitable for cycling. The long answer is:
West Coast Park to Clementi Woods Park
No problem cycling in this sector.
Clementi Woods Park to NUS
Within the park, the slope is stepped towards Clementi Road. You might have to carry your bike up the path for a short bit.
NUS to Kent Ridge Park (via Science Park 1)
This whole sector is a very nice ride. Following the trail, which I highly recommend, you have to carry your bicycle up the red-brick stairs at the top of Kent Ridge Crescent to continue on Kent Ridge Road. The rest of the trail can be done on the bike. Alternatively, from Kent Ridge Crescent, turn to Lower Kent Ridge Road at the roundabout and head towards NUH. Eventually, you will be able link up with South Bouna Vista Road, where you can re-join the trail along Science Park Drive. This map should help. I suggest going all the way to the end of Science Park Drive. There will be a short path leading to Kent Ridge Park.
Kent Ridge Park to Harbourfront MRT
You can cycle through Kent Ridge Park all the way to the canopy walk. From the canopy walk onwards, you have to dismount and push the bike a lot of the time. Any time you are on a bridge/boardwalk you have to dismount for everyone’s safety. Kent Ridge Park has a nice mountain bike trail. You might want to check that out instead!
Places I am sure you have to dismount and push:
I think the Marang Trail, which leads from Mount Faber to HarbourFront MRT, is not suited to cycling either. Too many stairs.
For those stretches, you can ride along the roads to get to the next destination.
Jamis
/ Sunday, 1 June 2008Thanks for the tip on cycling! I was trying to figure this out from the downloadable PDF map from NParks, then I found your comment. Well done!
By the way, how did you draw out the blue path in Google Maps? Did you do it manually?
acroamatic
/ Tuesday, 3 June 2008Glad to be of help, Jamis. I guess cyclists are always an afterthought in planning and publicity.
The blue path – I carried a GPS logger with me. The programme it comes with generated a Google Earth KML file, which can be imported into Google Maps too. Wish it does is as one whole line though. For whatever reason, it breaks up the trip into sectors – that wasn’t my doing!
wribbit
/ Tuesday, 10 June 2008Hi,
My friends and I are going to try the walk this weekend, and we were a little lost as to how to go about it (no thanks to the uninformative NPB website).
Really glad we found your blog..
Thanks very much for the comprehensive guide :)
acroamatic
/ Tuesday, 10 June 2008Cheers, wribbit. =) Enjoy the walk!
yagiza
/ Thursday, 19 June 2008Hello!
If let’s say my friends and I wanna skip the section on Kent Ridge Trail and just embark our journey directly with Canopy Walk, where our destination is Harbor Front MRT right, how should we make our way to the Canopy Walk?
Is there any public transport that can bring us there?
Thank you very much for the help!
acroamatic
/ Thursday, 19 June 2008Hi yagiza. I’m not sure if I understand you correctly, but I’ll try to answer as best I can.
If you want to start the walking from the canopy walk, you have to get to Kent Ridge Park. There is only one bus which stops near Kent Ridge Park: 200 from Buona Vista Terminal. You will alight at the National Community Leadership Institute (NACLI), then walk towards Vigilante Drive. It’s a steep road. Right at the top, you will be in Kent Ridge Park’s Car Park. Then follow the signs to the canopy walk.
I’ve created a map showing the rough location of the bus stop and the canopy walk. It looks like there is no connection between Vigilante Drive and the canopy walk, but don’t worry. It’s a park! It is paved all the way to the canopy walk.
My advice? Take a cab to Kent Ridge Park. Tell the cabbie, South Buona Vista Road and look out for the brown signboard indicating Kent Ridge Park. To save cost, get a cab from Buona Vista MRT.
yagiza
/ Friday, 20 June 2008hey there!
thanks lots for the comprehensive reply! im embarking my trail tmr haha..hope to see some squirrels along the way!
redfragrance
/ Wednesday, 25 June 2008Hi
I need to know how long it takes to go from Alexandra Arch to HarbourFront. Any idea?
acroamatic
/ Thursday, 26 June 2008@ yagiza Hope you managed to spot some squirrels! There are lots around the area…
@ redfragrance I reckon it would take 2 hours at very most, even at a leisurely pace.
wribbit
/ Friday, 27 June 2008Hello again,
Just thought to let you know that my friends and I did go for the walk 2 weeks back, and it was really great!
We’re glad we followed your route and walked towards Harbour Front, coz seriously, if we had started from Harbour Front, i think those steps at the very beginning would have killed whatever motivation we had, and we’d probably have ended up taking the cablecar back to HF :P
Thanks again, and happy weekend
acroamatic
/ Friday, 27 June 2008Nice to know you had a great time. =) Yah, going down those stairs at Mount Faber, I was so relieved that I wasn’t walking in the opposite direction!
Galaxie
/ Saturday, 5 July 2008Thanks for your advise, info and photos.
Will be going tomorrow and glad I found ur blog.
Sya
/ Friday, 11 July 2008Hi, thanks for your comprehensive guide! We followed your route and we’re really glad we did it coz like wribbit said, the stairs at the Marang Trail would’ve totally dampened our spirit and going home from Harbour Front is so much easier! We had such a great time!
Frank
/ Friday, 11 July 2008hey hi! is the moutain biking trail at kentridge park opened? i called nparks few days ago and they said its closed or something.
redfragrance
/ Friday, 11 July 2008Hi acroamatic
Thanks for your advice. Will try the walk next Saturday with friends :).
acroamatic
/ Saturday, 12 July 2008@ Galaxie, Sya & redfragrance You’re welcome! =) Thanks for commenting.
@ Frank Oh, the Kent Ridge MTB has been open for at least a year. Perhaps it’s closed for maintenance?
Jan
/ Wednesday, 16 July 2008Hi, and thanks for your very informative site!
1. Would you say that the path is accessible with a baby stroller, considering there are sections with stairs? Or can you recomment just a shorter segment that would be suitable?
2. That GPS logger sounds like a nifty device. Do you have any suggestion what i should look for? Is it an add-on to a PDA or handphone, or is it better to go for a standalone unit?
Thanks again!
acroamatic
/ Thursday, 17 July 2008Hi Jan, I’d suggest you start from HortPark, then walk to Harbourfront. The last bit – Marang Trail – has some unavoidable stairs. Of course, you may choose to take the cable car from Mount Faber to Harbourfront and avoid the Marang Trail (and the stairs) completely!
Oh, the GPS logger was meant for my camera. It’s the GiSTEQ PhotoTrackr. Just have to switch it on and it’ll start logging. Then connect to a computer to download the log once you’re done. More steps involved if you intend to geotag your photos. The software provided is a bit buggy though. Perhaps, it is just my computer.
Jan
/ Saturday, 26 July 2008Hey Ken, only now I recognize you!
My wife my sister-in-law talked me into starting at Harbourfront, so we ended up carrying the baby stroller all teh way up to the top. Some 100m altitude difference. That was a good workout!
So it can be done if you donät mind sweating it… ;-)
acroamatic
/ Friday, 8 August 2008Jan, was that your letter in today’s Straits Times? An excellent rebuttal of the other writers’ letters.
Bee Tin
/ Friday, 5 September 2008Hey, thanks so much for gathering the info! Just what i needed. (My friends and i completed till Kent Ridge (from Harbourfront) and are going to finish the rest next week. I was think how do i continue till i saw your guide. It’s great! Thanks so much!
acroamatic
/ Monday, 8 September 2008Enjoy the walk, Bee Tin!
Menaga Mohan
/ Tuesday, 9 September 2008Hi
We are thinking of walking the ridges this saturday. However, we are thinking of starting from Hort Park. Any suggestions on how we can reach hortpark?
On another note: Your blog is really informative.
acroamatic
/ Tuesday, 9 September 2008Hi Menaga, buses 51, 57, 93, 97, 100, 166, 175 and 520 go by HortPark. Stop along Alexandra Road (you should see Alexandra Arch before or after the bus stop depending on which side of the road you come from), then walk a bit to HortPark. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the compliment about my blog. =)
serene
/ Wednesday, 1 October 2008My friends and I walked the Southern Ridges, starting from Mount Faber! Oh man, because we only had an A4 map we got lost at the Kent Ridge area! We did walk pass the Science Park, but after coming out of it, we took the curvy South Buona Vista road instead of the other. It felt like the Singaporean Initial D route. HAHAHA. And now looking at this map that you gave again, that South Buona Vista road took us A HUGEEEE ROUND! Really huge round. But we just kept walking and walking and walking (we didn’t even pass Clementi Woods, instead, we passed by the old Haw Par Villa) but we eventually arrived at West Coast Park, erm, around 5 hours later. But it was a great experience! Everyone who’s in for an adventure should try this. And get lost like us! :D
acroamatic
/ Thursday, 2 October 2008Ahhh… yes, many people would get lost around there. Unfortunately, there are no signposts indicating the route within NUS. Incidentally, people used to race motorcycles (probably illegally) at South Buona Vista Road precisely because of its “Initial D” characteristics. Glad you took the detour as an adventure. Perhaps you can try the other route another time. Thanks for sharing your experience!
Mina
/ Friday, 24 October 2008We went to Hortpark last Sunday unfortunately wasn’t able to do the walks. If we start from HortPark and go to the VivoCity harbourfront trail, is it correct from my understanding that we will walk all the way to Harbourfront throuhg the Marang Trail? then we can skip the stairs and just take a cable car from MtFaber to Harbourfront?
acroamatic
/ Friday, 24 October 2008Yup, once you reach Mt Faber, you can take the cable car to HarbourFront (or even Sentosa!) instead of taking the stairs at Marang Trail.
In fact, you have to pass by the Mt Faber cable car station before you get to Marang Trail.
L
/ Monday, 27 October 2008Hi, thk for the detailed and excellent info!
just to chk, how many entrance are there to the kent ridge park?
Are they accessible via public transport (bus)
Form Npb website, there seems to be 3 ..
1) Service 200. Alight at South Buona Vista Road and proceed by foot via Vigilante Drive
2) Service 92. Alight at the end of Science Park Drive.
3) Services 10, 30, 51, 61, 143 and 176 to Pasir Panjang Road and proceed by foot via Pepys Road
Do u know are they still valid? thks
acroamatic
/ Tuesday, 28 October 2008Hi, L. That’s a tough question – the number of entrances to Kent Ridge Park. Well, there are three which can be accessed via public transport. There is at least one more entrance which is not so well known.
As far as I know, all the bus services you mentioned are active.
1) I’ve commented on the 200 route previously.
2) This bus stop is probably the one which is closest to an entrance.
3) This is probably the furthest stop from an entrance. But if you’re walking the Southern Ridges, what’s a little extra distance? ;) Note that starting the Southern Ridges walk from this route means that you are actually bypassing Kent Ridge Park as the end of Pepys Road is where the Kent Ridge Park sector ends and the HortPark connector (leading to HortPark and the bridges) begins. Of course, you can always walk into Kent Ridge Park and then backtrack to get to the HortPark connector.
Manoj Sugathan
/ Thursday, 11 December 2008Thanks to your article I did a Southern Ridges walk (well almost!) in the reverse direction. I thoroughly enjoyed the walk. It was an eye opener too. I never knew Singapore is so green.
I have posted some photos and a short write-up in my blog – http://masug.blogspot.com
bilal
/ Friday, 9 January 2009hey there! thanks for the information. my wife & i have on serveral occasions done the canopy walk to marang trail to & fro and the other way round. we’ve also brought many foreign visitors from germany & australia on these walks and they thoroughly enjoyed the walk loving very much the green side of sgp which they’ve never seen before. however, we’ve never figured out the part fom kent ridge to west coast park (or vice versa). we tried once, having walked from marang trail continuing onto kent ridge park (not doing the canopy walk) and ended up having to walk down this steep road leading to south buona vista road on towards pasir panjang road then taking a bus back to harbour front where we parked the car. going to try it again this sunday and your map will help. the tricky part is getting into the NUS trail….have printed your map to bring along and hope will figure it out……always game for good walks & adventure! Thanks once again – Bilal
De Ming
/ Monday, 16 March 2009Hi, do you think it is possible to see the sunset from mount faber just before the end, at the marang trail?
I was actually thinking of planning the timing of the walk so that it ends at around sunset time, but if there’s no sunset view at the end, its kinda pointless right? Also, doing it this way probably means me and my friends have to brave the afternoon heat. =)
acroamatic
/ Monday, 16 March 2009Possible? Perhaps, in terms of direction.
But sunsets in the west often obscured by clouds and pollution from the petrochem industries on our southern islands.
katherine
/ Tuesday, 17 March 2009Ok! Thanks!
Alfred Low
/ Saturday, 21 March 2009I visit occasionally from Canberra, Australia.
Signposting is adequate from Marang Trail to Science Park,
but there is nothing much to go on from there.
No maps, no other walkers to exchange notes with.
I wish the whole trail could be made friendlier for the non-resident too, with a couple more drinking fountains.
Anyway, the trail was an exhilarating experience.
A trail which has arrived at last.
Liza
/ Friday, 12 June 2009Am going for this walk tomorrow and am glad I came across your blog cuz the NPark and STB sites weren’t so clear. Jot down all the things to look out for and guess as you said, it’s okay to get lost so will bear that in mind! Planning on skipping the Clementi Woods and NUS park this round though. Alrighty, wish me luck :o)
acroamatic
/ Saturday, 13 June 2009Hi Liza, hope you had a a good walk this morning!
frances
/ Monday, 13 September 2010hello there!
this is quite informative. ill be going to singapore this september. i’m gonna try this walk using your guide…good luck to me…hehe