Gangsa Bike Track

Trail under the BKE

The Gangsa Bike Track

It runs north south next to the Bukit Timah Expressway BKE and stretches from Chestnut Ave to connect with the Central Catchment Park Connector to Mandai Road. It is popular with both bikers and hikers.

At the southern end is Gangsa Hill where mountain bikers practise their jumps and other stunts.

The Route

The route described here will take us along the Gangsa Track northward to the Central Catchment Park Connector to Mandai Road then back along the Bukit Timah Pipeline Trail to Bukit Panjang.

We accessed the trail from Bukit Panjang Road near Block 276 where there is a footpath leading to Zhenghua Park and here we turned right and almost immediately turned left to go under the BKE.

Leading to the Gangsa Track

After the BKE is a vegetable and fruit garden tended by nearby residents. They maintained a rest area under the BKE to relax with their stray dogs and while away their time. This area used to be more widely farmed but some of the gardeners have migrated to the community gardens nearby.

We turned left along the trail and crossed a small drain and proceeded to walk uphill northward. Part of the track was formerly a kampong road but now the jungle had overgrown and provided a canopy to shelter us from the sun. Occasionally a lone cyclist or two passed us by.

Eventually we walked beside the Kranji Expressway KJE junction where there were some exposed stretches. Then we came to a junction with a road leading east to a pumping station.

Gangsa Track

We continued walking straight onto the Central Catchment Park Connector. This was built to allow us to experience nature and keep us away from Track 15 used by the Army to get to the Rifle Range nearby. On some days we could hear the sound of firearms.

There are a few durian trees along this part of the trail and when in season you can see the fruits hanging from the branches.

The Pipeline Trail

When we arrived at Mandai Road we turned left and walked past the Mandai Camp II to the pipeline control valves enclosure next to the camp. We located a path next to the enclosure and got on to the Pipeline Trail. It was uphill for about 400m through open grassland. On the right of us is a forested area inhabited by a man who loved living alone and growing fruits and vegetables. There are a few durian trees here and the nearby residents would come for the fruits when in season.

This trail continued under the BKE on the west side. Here it is undulating and eventually we arrived at the KJE junction. Just after walking under the KJE we reached Zhenghua Park. We followed its trail which was paved and offered occasional shade from the sun. And we came across a man collecting water from a spring just above the drain. He claimed that the water has health benefits.

We finally arrived at Bukit Panjang Road where we ended our walk and replenished our depleted salts with a refreshing 100plus.

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Route Map

Map data ©2017 Google, Urban Redevelopment Authority

Woodlands Town to Bukit Panjang via Ulu Sembawang Park Connector

The Route
This route came about to satisfy two criteria viz. to walk along park connectors with their well paved tracks and secondly along forests for their shade, greenery and away from traffic. We achieved this by starting from Woodlands (Causeway Point) after a hearty lunch and proceeding southward along the Woodlands Park Connector (Ave 2) to the Ulu Sembawang Park Connector (PCN) to the Mandai PCN. Then we travelled along Track 15 (Central Catchment PCN) in Mandai to the Gangsa Bike Trail to Bukit Panjang. See the GPS track below.

Open field at Woodlands Park Connector

Woodlands Park Connector
Walking along the Park Connector from Woodlands to Ulu Sembawang was uneventful except for the hot weather as we started walking at about 12 noon. After walking southward along Ave 2, we passed the Singapore Sports School where our elite athletes train and have their education. The path eastward from the school was blissful and reminded us of the Von Trapp children singing in the Austrian Alps as the track bordered a huge expanse of wide open field on high ground making us feeling liberated. On a previous trip one of our fellow walkers found a lost kite and ran with it and I sang "the hills are filled with the sound of music, etc." Unfortunately he suffered a minor injury as a result but is okay now. Before embarking on this stretch, one got to be careful of thunderstorms as it is exposed.

Ulu Sembawang Park Connector

Near the junction of Ave 12 and the SLE we headed southward along the Ulu Sembawang PCN. This track took us through the forests of Mandai used by Mindef for training their troops. On the west was the Mandai forest with the forbidding "Protected Area" sign and on the east were the farms. The track was just opened several months ago - kudos to the Nparks for building it and allowing us access through the Mandai forest. At the end was Mandai Road and the Seletar Reservoir. We turned west towards the Singapore Zoo direction. We could see the outline of durian trees as we walked, but no fruits as it was out of season.

Central Catchment Park Connector
At the Mandai Lake Road which led to the Zoo, we followed a track called the Central Catchment PCN. This narrow track is within the forest of Mandai and is left unpaved as close to its natural condition. There were occasional fallen trees due to heavy rain and wind but we were able to continue our trek. This trail roughly parallel Track 15  leading to the Mandai Rifle Range. On certain days we could hear the sound of gunfire. As we proceeded along, we could spot the silhouette of durian trees. This was dutifully recorded as a POI on our GPS track for a visit when the fruit is in season. The Central Reserve PCN had been realigned to join up with the Gangsa Bike Trail to which we emerged when we came to the end of the park connector.

Gangsa Bike Trail

Gangsa Bike Trail
We did a side trip to the PUB pumping station to clock up the mileage we wanted to achieve. The bike trail was easy going although we were accompanied by mosquitos but thanks to our buddies for whom they had more affection, the rest of us were spared the ordeal. Towards the end of our trek we arrived at the abandoned garden beside the BKE under which we walked toward Bukit Panjang Kim San Leng coffee-shop for a short rest before heading home.

See Also:
Admiralty Park to Sembawang
The Pipeline Trail
Woodcutter Trail

GPS Track

Map data ©2020 Google, Urban Redevelopment Authority

The Pipeline Trail

The Pipeline Trail
The trail is the result of the passage of several pipelines that bring in water from Johor in Malaysia to Singapore. Three pipelines can be seen on the causeway joining the two countries continuing all the way to the Dempsey Road area. Most of the pipelines are buried with the ground above kept free from trees but covered with grass. Some sections are exposed when crossing streams/drains. These exposed sections can be seen in Google Earth.

The trail begins at Marsiling in a southerly direction to Farrer Road. Our walk took us from Marsiling to Rifle Range Road where we would divert through the Durian Loop (a former durian plantation) to check for durians. The length of the walk would be 12km.

Woodlands 
We started our walk on the trail next to Woodlands St 41. As this street turned south we could see the trail as we walked along it. To access the trail we followed the well-trodden footpath next to the fence that was opposite block 413A. About 250m away we came across the first exposed pipes. One of these allowed us to walk on it to cross over the low lying area.

Start of the trail at Woodlands St 41

We stepped around a fenced-up area protecting control valves just before walking under the SLE heading south. After this, we noticed durian trees on our left. Again there was a slight delay to search for durians. We met a guy who had been waiting and was rewarded with three fruits which he claimed tasted good. He suggested we go further south near the highway crossing where there were plenty of fruits. We left him and continued southward. We believed that this guy was just trying to get rid of us.

First set of exposed pipes

The next set of pipeline crossing was about 400m from the SLE and were about 170m long. It was exciting walking across these. There was no danger walking on these as they were about 5 feet in diameter but a fall could be nasty.

Mandai Road
The approach to Mandai Road was steep but manageable. We crossed this road at the traffic light and proceeded back to the trail, but were blocked by fences. So we skirted along the access road to the BKE and spotted a footpath in the undergrowth. At the end of the path was the trail again but the area here being low-lying was muddy. There were bamboo poles lying on the ground. These helped prevent us from getting too dirty.

Up the slope of the trail we proceeded and were rewarded with a breath-taking view at the top of the hill. This spot overlooked the army transport base and the BKE ahead of us. We took a short rest here.

About 400m further, the pipeline crossed under the BKE, resuming its southward heading on the right side of the highway, as we looked south.

Looking towards KJE

There was a dirt road immediately after this with lorries carrying soil moving along it. I accidentally stepped into a drain that was overgrown with wild grass but except for some dirt and minor scratches was okay. About 1km further south we crossed under the KJE. Immediately after this was the Segar Road Estate. We had a break at a coffee-shop that was situated in the newly-built Zhenghua Community Club at the east junction of Segar Road and Bt Panjang Ring Rd.

Zhenghua Park
After the break, we proceeded south along the Ring Rd and rejoined the trail at the fence on the north side of Greenridge Sec School. The drop to the trail was steep so we relied on the fencing to support us as we climbed down the slope. There was the Bukit Panjang Park Connector parallel to the trail so we followed it instead as it was paved. The Park Connector Network is a series of track for hikers and cyclists usually along canals/parks linking parks in different parts of the island. After about 500m we arrived at the Zhenghua Park. There was a track that went under the BKE on the left leading to the Gangsa Bike Trail. We continued southwards along the track crossing the Bt Panjang Rd. Since leaving the school, we had been following the shaded paved track that parallel the exposed pipeline trail. 300m away we crossed Chestnut Ave. This is an access road for the pumping station at the Central Catchment Nature Reserve. Another 300m we crossed Dairy Farm Rd using a path that went under the road.

Zhenghua Park

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve
The track became the Belukar Track of the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, part of the bike trail that ran along the border of the reserve. After 1km the bike trail turned right. This is where we left the bike trail and rejoined the pipeline trail that headed for Rifle Range Road. After crossing Rifle Range Road the trail followed the boundary of the Murnane Reservoir and on to Kg Chantek Road. We explored the Durian Loop to check for durians but we were too late in the season as there were no more fruits on the trees. We continued on to Kg Chantek Road and took a rest at the coffee shop at Binjai Park, then to Bt Timah Road where we took the bus for home.

Near Rifle Range Road

The Route

Map data ©2017 Google

See Also:
Pipeline Trail from Bukit Panjang to Woodlands
Admiralty Park to Sembawang
Woodcutter Trail
Woodlands Town to Bukit Panjang via Ulu Sembawang Park Connector