Kampong Trail to Venus Drive

Pipeline Trail

This was an interesting walk because we intended to look for a trail to one of the supporting towers below the TreeTop bridge probably used for maintenance access. 

Kampong Trail

We met at the Bukit Timah Food Centre. Then we proceeded to Hindhede Road for the start of the  Kampong Trail. After crossing Rifle Range Road the trail leads to the Durian Loop a former durian plantation. During the durian season we could see many durian lovers waiting to pick the ripe fruits that dropped from the trees. The early birds would have scoured all the regular trails and just picked up those that dropped during the early morning. The trail loops back to Rifle Range Road and on to ST Kinetics. Just to the right after crossing the barrier is where the pipeline trail starts. 

A shelter on the Petaling Trail

Pipeline Trail 

The trail is undulating. It follows the boundary of ST Kinetics compound until the spillway. When we reached the spillway we turned left and walked along it toward Peirce Reservoir.  The spillway is used to discharge water from Peirce Reservoir to MacRitchie Reservoir. 

After a brief stop at the beach to admire the scenery, we returned to the lower end of the spillway. Here there is a bridge where we crossed over to continue along the pipeline trail.

At the flow control station we separated into two groups one going to the Ranger Station first to await the second group. The other group continued straight on the trail behind the control station to the bottom of the TreeTop bridge. 

The beginning of the pipeline trail

TreeTop Walk 

Here we searched for signs of a trail to the tower. The first trail turned out to be impassable. We backtracked a little bit and did find a trail. We trekked along this and very soon arrived at the tower. We moved a bit further on and climbed onto the beginning of the boardwalk. This was the beginning of a long flight of steps to the top of the hill.

We stopped for a while at the first hut after the bridge. This is at the top of the long staircase. After this we moved along the rest of the boardwalk also called the Petaling Trail. When we reached the Sime Trail we turned left towards the Ranger Station. 

The endless staircase

Ranger Station 

As usual we  rested here. The Ranger Station has toilet facilities and two water coolers for us to replenish our water bottles. Here we usually met other hikers and exchanged greetings and information. 

We left the Ranger Station as it started to rain. It became a heavy downpour accompanied by lightning. At the SICC clubhouse we took shelter at a storage area. When the rain weakened we quickly continued our walk to Upper Thomson Road. The two groups met up along Venus Drive and finished the remaining walk to the Venus Drive car park.

Our Route

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