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

Map data ©2016 Google, Urban Redevelopment Authority

Bukit Timah Bike Trail

The Bukit Timah Bike Trail follows approximately the boundary of the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. The total trail distance is 6km. This walk would include side trips to the Hindhede quarry in the Hindhede Nature Park, the Singapore Quarry and the Wallace Education Centre.

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Visitor Centre

Hindhede Quarry

We started the walk after lunch at the Bukit Timah Market and Food Centre at Pei Wah Ave off Upper Bukit Timah Road. It has a wide selection of food to choose from. We headed for the visitor centre at Hindhede Road via Jalan Jurong Kechil and Jalan Anak Bukit. We accessed the track next to the toilet at the visitor centre that led to the Hindhede Quarry in the Hindhede Nature Park. After that we followed the trail that led us to the carpark from which we began walking along the bike trail. The start of the trail was steep and filled with rough granite stones. The bike trail consisted mostly of dirt track with steep portions clearly designated on mapboards.

Hindhede Quarry

Singapore Quarry
Just before the track went under Jalan Asas through a tunnel, there was a path on the left that allowed one to reach Jalan Asas. This road would end at the Singapore Quarry where one could rest and admire the quarry cliff and the wildfire and plant life. On some occasion one could see see the white bald headed eagle.

Tunnel Under Jalan Asas

We spotted some immature durian on the ground leading us to look up to check on the durian tree.

Singapore Quarry

Near the MOE Adventure School we could hear students going through their training. At the Dairy Farm Pass was an open field between two cliffs. We came across film crews doing location shoots. At one time an Indian film crew with artistes in period costume were filming some Indian epic and on this trip another crew with modern theme busy doing their makeup. We also came across a guy in full backpack training for a trek to Nepal.

Filming at Dairy Farm Pass

Wallace Education Centre and Wallace Trail
After some steep climbs, the track crossed a road that led to the Wallace Education Centre. It had clean toilet facilities and drinking water, an information hall and a training hall. It was a dairy farm in the colonial days hence the names of the surrounding areas such as Dairy Farm Trail, Dairy Farm Pass, etc. Beyond the Wallace Education Centre was a small trail called the Wallace Trail that looped back to the access road. There was a sign mentioning the last tiger being spotted there.

Wallace Education Centre

We returned to the bike trail and moved on until we hit the Belukar Trail where we turned right. Here we had a choice of staying on the Belukar Trail or the open Pipeline Trail which was parallel to it.

Bukit Timah Pipeline Trail

Just before Rifle Range Road there were two sets of exposed pipelines. Between the two sets of pipelines we looked for the trail on the right that would lead us to the Senapang Trail. Senapang means rifle as this trail was beside the rifle range below. When we reached a junction we followed the sign that pointed us to the visitor centre. The other trail would continue on to the Kampong Trail and MacRitchie Reservoir.

See Also:
Exploring Bukit Timah Hill  

Route

View AroundBtTimahHill in a larger map