Singapore: A Hidden Find for Runners

View Photos (1) Image © 2000 John Nevison

Travelers seeking an escape from the high-tech facades and interiors of Singapore's Orchard Road should head to the MacRitchie Reservoir north of the city center, where a walk or run around the MacRitchie Loop, located in the 2000 hectares of the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, is excellent training for rainforest treks elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Other than a handful of devoted regulars, surprisingly few people do the loop, which is why it remains one of developed Singapore's best secrets.

Whatever your choice of aerobic activity, the eleven-kilometer circuit should not be taken lightly. A reasonable level of physical fitness is required. Carry water, a small umbrella and sun protection. After heavy rains, a near-daily occurrence in Singapore, the trails are muddy and slippery. Storms can leave entire trees uprooted, blocking the paths. When the sun does appear, it burns fiercely.

MacRitchie's entrance is a manicured garden with a kiosk selling snack foods and beverages. This is the last place to purchase water before setting out. Near the kiosk is a billboard with pictures and descriptions of indigenous flora and fauna, which includes the often seen long-tailed macaques and the more elusive cobras, kraits and vipers. The presence of snakes may concern or intrigue you, but the chances of seeing one are slim. In over 300 runs around the reservoir, I've seen only three snakes: two pythons and a poisonous Blue Malaysian Coral snake. In all encounters, the snakes, upon sensing my presence, quickly slithered into the forest.

I suggest that you begin the MacRitchie loop at sunrise. It is cooler and the best time to observe the daily practitioners of Tai Chi, a form of Chinese martial art and calisthenics. If you move in a counter-clockwise direction, which will keep the water on your left, you will complete the most popular section of the trail--a wide and tree-shaded path that runs out and back from the kiosk--last when its ease is most desired.

Below the kiosk, there are several paved roads. Do not take the one that leads across the reservoir dam itself for it is a dead end. Take the one that passes the restrooms and parking lot. It will intersect a red and grey surfaced path that, where the water ends, will become a dirt path veering to the left. This leads to the trailhead of what is officially called the MacRitchie Nature Trail, seven and a half kilometers through dense forest. The reservoir will always be on your left but not often visible. Private houses will occasionally be within 100 meters on your right but these are completely hidden by the forest. (The house residents occasionally lose roof tiles to MacRitchie's marauding monkeys and their pets to hungry pythons).

Though MacRitchie Nature Trail ends at the overflow parking lot for the Singapore Island Country Club and Golf Course, very few people turn around and return on the same trail, as it is possible to do a loop that requires no more energy and which ventures into new territory.

To do the loop, walk past the SICC's parking lot, keeping the trees on your left. Take the road on the left identified as a "Dead End" and walk to the Public Utilities Station, where you will find a wide unpaved trail on your left that re-enters the forest. This section is a favorite spot for ornithologists looking for bulbuls, babblers, and racket-tailed dronzos due to its open views of the treetops. It is also the only section of trail where bike riding is permissible. Follow signs for "Sime Road." Soon you will cross a small concrete bridge where a sign advises that authorities should be informed if crocodiles or "unusual mounds" are spotted! (Past reports of crocodiles were probably large monitor lizards indigenous to the area).

Soon after the bridge, the trail splits. Keep to your left. The trail becomes elevated wooden planking over marsh often enveloped by early morning mist. It terminates at the SICC's golf course (there are two SICC golf courses). Continue on the path that keeps the water on your left and the golf green on your right (you are allowed to walk on this path). Until recently, when all were removed, logs projecting from the water were the remnants of a bridge and temple complex built by WWII POWs for the Japanese during their occupation of Singapore.

Where the golf course path, bordered with red palm trees and bougainvillea bushes, rejoins the MacRitchie Nature Trail, is a well-used fitness corner. You are now only three kilometers from the kiosk and a cold drink, which you will need even though this was a hike through Singapore and not Borneo rainforest. If you are passing through, consider it practice for the real thing. For residents, such as myself, it is the genuine article in the middle of a concrete jungle.

Published on 1/1/99