Nature Trails Singapore: Bukit Batok Nature Reserve

Nature Trails Singapore: Bukit Batok Nature Reserve

For a taste of nature in Singapore, try visiting the nature trails in Bukit Batok Nature Reserve located between Bukit Batok East Avenue 2 and Lorong Sesuai. This is one of the family-friendly nature trails where children and adults unaccustomed to walking up steps and steep slopes can easily complete. Compared to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, the Bukit Batok Nature Reserve has one of the easier nature trails to walk in Singapore.

I visited the nature trails of Bukit Batok Nature Reserve on a recent warm Sunday. The nature trails here were well marked with signposts and layered with bricks that cut through the dense rainforest of Bukit Batok Nature Reserve. Getting lost in this nature reserve was an unlikely event as long as visitors kept to these un-erasable nature trails.

At the start of the nature trail, I was greeted by a large map detailing the paths that led you to two major sights in Bukit Batok Nature Reserve: a large scenic lake with steep cliffs that used to be a quarry and a World War II monument, the Syonan Chureito. These were reminders of the history of Bukit Batok Nature Reserve, once a rural area filled with forest, farms and granite quarrying. Along Lorong Sesuai at the top of Buki Batok hill after climbing about 120 steps used to stand two memorials built by Japanese and Allied troops for their war dead. Now transmission towers sit behind a fence there. A National Heritage Board plaque has been erected to highlight the importance of this area.

Fruits are commonly found here. You can’t miss rambutan trees in an open clearing along one of Bukit Batok’s nature trails. A sign warns visitors to look out for falling durians, although I wasn’t sure where they were even though durians were supposed to be in season.

What you should look out for are the monkeys that live in the forest of Bukit Batok Nature Reserve. In large groups of families, they can turn aggressive if fed by park visitors. In any case, be warned that monkey feeding is prohibited.

Nature trail lovers would enjoy a field day identifying the local flora at Bukit Batok Nature Reserve. They might also have something to say regarding Nparks attempts to replace plants and vegetation that were considered foreign to the nature reserve, According to a sign that was prominently displayed along the nature trail, measures were underway to remove unwanted ‘foreign’ natural flora.

Children would surely appreciate the large playground catering to their fantasies. A fitness corner was easily found by park visitors who longed for more work out, other than the easy hiking trails in Bukit Batok Nature Reserve. Foot massage was also available at the foot reflexology station. There were two look out points along the nature trails but untidy plant overgrowth reduced the field of view.

24-hour coupon car parking is available next to this nature reserve. Bus service 61, 66, 157, 178, 852 and 985 stops near the 36-hectare Bukit Batok Nature Reserve. Click here for the map.

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