Another place you should really consider visiting, before or after the Singapore Botanic Gardens, is the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.
Located around the slopes of Bukit Timah, Singapore's highest hill (which soars to a modest altitude of only 164 meters above sea level), it was declared as a nature reserve as early as 1883, when the colonial government realized the need in preserving some of the island's fast vanishing rainforests.
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A small tip from 'Metropolasia-Man':
Although Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is nothing compared to the Amazonian jungles, which people usually visualize when thinking about a "rainforest", It's still well worth visiting... Few are the places on earth, where you can find such a rich ecosystem and biodiversity, just a stone's throw from the city.
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Occupying an area of approximately 400 acres, the reserve forms one of the largest patches of primary rainforest left in Singapore, and gives the visitor an idea of what Singapore looked like more than 200 years ago, before Raffles arrived and massive urbanization started...
Although it is relatively small in size, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve has an unbelievable biodiversity, with hundreds of tropical plant species (some experts claim that the number of plant species growing in the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is more than that in the whole of North America!), and plenty of animals... From unique insects and butterflies to reptiles, beautiful forest birds and mammals...
Notable mammals include Flying Lemurs, Common Treeshrews, tiny Plantain Squirrels, cheerful Long-tailed Macaques (Cynomolgus Monkey) and the nocturnal Pangolin (ant-eater). Among the reptiles, you may see the Common Sun Skink and Oriental Whip Snake.
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The entrance to the reserve is through the Visitor Centre, where you can learn a bit about the place. That is also where the hiking trails start from : From the easy 30-40 minutes trails, to the slightly more difficult 2 hours trails... If you think about walking the longer trails, you'll do yourself a big favor if you come here first thing in the morning, before heat and humidity become unbearable.
The Visitor Centre is open daily, 8:30am - 6pm and entrance is free.
Click here to visit the official website of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, where a detailed map of the reserve can be downloaded.
Tiny Hindhede Nature Park, on the left side of the Visitor Centre (if coming from the main road) is another place worth visiting. The small park encircles the abandoned granite quarry and, other than its picturesque scenery, there is some adventurous play equipment, rope bridges and the likes...
How to get there ? Drop off the bus at Court Bukit Timah, next to an Esso petrol station. Use the pedestrian bridge to cross the road, turn rught and walk along the main road for a few minutes (the road should be on your right hand side), turn left to Hindhede Road and climb along it till you get to the nature reserves's gate and the visitor's centre (It is just a ten minutes' walk or so...)
Bus No. 170 comes here from Little India (Bukit Timah Road, right next to exit A of Little India MRT Station)
SMRT bus No. 171 comes here from the city centre and has stations on Stamford Road (National Museum of Singapore), Penang Road (near Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station), Somerset Road (Parallel to Orchard Road - Near Somerset MRT Station, the Phoenix and Peranakan Place), Orchard Turn (at the back of Ngee Ann City), Orchard Boulevard (near Orchard MRT Station and ION Orchard) and Scotts Road (Near DFS Galleria - Opposite Far East Plaza)
Bus Nos. 961 and 961-C stop by the Raffles Hotel (Beach Road side), as well as by St. Andrew's Cathedral (North Bridge Road), Boat Quay (Cnr. of North Bridge Road and Circular) and Chinatown (Near the corner of Smith Street and New Bridge Road).
If coming from Singapore Botanic Gardens, take SBS No. 170 or SMRT No. 75 or 171
English guided tours are available every now and again, for more details about the tours and the reserve, call the Visitor Centre on 6468 5736
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Read about other tours and trips around this area...
Singapore Botanic Gardens and the National Orchid Garden
