HSBC Treetop Walk

MacRitchie Reservoir is Singapore’s oldest reservoir and one of the few places in Singapore where you can appreciate the natural, beautiful flora and escape from the busy city. A sense of accomplishment is achieved once you reach the HSBC Treetop Walk, a 250-​meter long suspension bridge connecting the two highest points at MacRitchie — Bukit Peirce and Bukit Kalang. The bridge is unidirectional, so it’s best to know before walking onto it whether or not you’re terrified of heights. On the bridge, you’ll take in the sweeping treetop views of the forests and if lucky, you’ll see a few birds.
The hike through MacRitchie up to the Treetop Walk is great in the early morning when the heat and humidity isn’t the worst, but an afternoon hike would suffice as well given all the shade from the trees. Bring enough water to keep yourself hydrated, but there are water fountains by the restrooms in case you need to refill.
Along the hike, you may come across several long-​tailed macaques. They may look adorable, but they aren’t afraid to steal your food. So if possible, avoid bringing food and plastic bags (they associate plastic bags being food)! In the end, the hike through MacRitchie to the Treetop Walk was fun with some strenuous bits, and it took roughly 2 – 3 hours. It was a great achievement at the end of the hike, but the cool shower afterwards felt even better.

if you do not yet have the ability to walk on water and the starting point of your hike is from the carpark at macritchie reservoir, your only options will be a clockwise or anti clockwise route, to skirt around the reservoir, to get to the treetop walk.
my recommendation is an anti clockwise route, a complete full circle around the reservoir and back to your start point, which will be a good 10 km trek.
for those who just want to see the treetop walk with the least amount of suffering possible, then your strategy should be starting from venus drive carpark, about 50% discount on suffering.
for more than 50% discount on suffering, join SICC or go with a friend who is a member.
from their private parking compound, you get the shortest trek possible!:)
but my recommendation is still a full anti clockwise route which will also bring you to jelutong tower which i never knew existed!!!
leave your stylish stilettos and your holiday haviannas at home.
you will need a comfortably cushioned sole to lessen the suffering.
as for hydration…
to hydrate or not to hydrate, that is the question.
my recommendation is to hydrate before you start your trek.
i travel light, so no hydration for me until i reach the ranger station.
here they have welcoming water coolers for the parched and relieving restrooms for those who hydrated too much.
in any case, do both when you get here in preparation for your trek back.
my singtel line did not work during the trek, in other words, don’t get lost!
stay on the sign posted path and try not to stray away from it.
snakes, monitor lizards and monkeys call the nature trails, that lead up to the treetop walk, their home.
respect them and they will respect you.
definitely not a good place to bring the immobile.
and do leave your young kids at home if you do not want to hear the constant «are we there yet!!!»
does the end justify the means?
well, you can’t really compare it with the view of Neuschwanstein from Marien Brücke (Mary’s Bridge)!
you will not even get to see macritchie reservoir from this bridge.
but you do get a glimpse of upper pierce reservoir instead.
even though i’m not very afraid of heights, i found myself gripping my handphone, ever so tightly, as i traverse across on my one way ticket.
but i did have the luxury of stopping along the bridge, as it was a weekday morning.
i can only imagine how you will be pressured to move on if it was a weekend.
if ever they wish to capitalize commercially, this is not a bad place for bungee jumping or love locks!
you may not yet be able to walk on water, but here, you certainly can walk on treetops!:)

Meh this place was a bit of a disappointment. I really like Macritchie, but the Treetop Walk left a lot more to be desired. We parked at the Venus Drive exit and walked for maybe half an hour or so before we were able to reach the ranger station. so quite a far walk. It’s frustrating because there’s actually a driveway that takes you up to the ranger station, but it’s a driveway for the water reservoir plants so you can’t park there.
From the ranger station to the Treetop walk isn’t too far, but a fairly uphill incline. You go up this pretty large driveway again and then you reach the entrance of the Treetop walk which entails a ton of wooden stairs. When you are finally greeted by the walk itself, you learn that it does have a maximum capacity (makes sense) of maybe 30 people. When you’re there… I guess I shouldn’t have expected more. You are very much on top of the trees. The view is nice though all you really see is greenery and the reservoir. After maybe five minutes of this metal bridge (for those of you who are afraid of heights, it definitely feels very safe! Nothing like the walk in Vancouver), it’s over and you begin the descent down. The descent down is easy since it’s all wooden steps, but it’s almost odd because you go up and down quite a bit. Not a hard walk but can be a bit tiring in the hot sun. It’ll loop you back to the Ranger Station where you can rehydrate and then head back to the parking lot.
All in all, my friends and I spent maybe about 2 hours here, though we were moving pretty quickly. There’s a ton of nature to explore on the pathway down and I think it’s pretty cool that they actually note the different types of plants and wildlife that you’re able to see. I could definitely see myself coming to Macritchie, but again, the Treetop Walk is pretty anticlimatic.
tldr; not really that cool, okay if you’re in the area, but as a tourist, not worth the effort

Tired of being surrounded by construction, malls, and ubiquitous condos on the island? Do you refuse to pay $ 5 to go on the Skyway at Gardens By The Bay? Do you like being on top?* Then the TreeTop Walk is for you!
What is the TreeTop Walk, you ask? It’s a suspension bridge in MacRitchie Reservoir that allows you to walk along the forest canopy (AKA Mother Nature’s Baller VIP Rooftop), up to 25 m from ground level. And it’s free!
However, you have to walk a bit in order to enjoy this goodness. I started from the Venus Drive carpark, which is near the Singapore Island Country Club «Island» location (apparently the other location is called «Bukit».) It’s about 2.5 km from the Venus Drive carpark to the ranger station, where there are toilets before the bridge. Once you start walking on the bridge, there is no turning back! Seriously. The bridge is only one direction, and after you cross, the trail is only one direction.**
The National Parks Board says it’s moderate to difficult trail, but I personally think it’s more on the moderate side (and this is coming from a seriously out-​of-​shape person***.) The tough part is going up the hill to reach the bridge. Other than some rocky and muddy terrain, it’s not bad at all. It took me about 3 hours to do the 6 km trail, and that’s walking at a slower pace, sitting down for a bit, and taking pictures, of course!
The only thing I didn’t like about the bridge was that it was too narrow. I really wish it was wider, so you could stop, take pictures, and really enjoy the view. Because I went on a weekend, there were a lot of people and I felt pressured to keep moving so there wouldn’t be any backup.
Don’t forget to bring water with you, as they don’t sell any on site. I was fine with 1 liter. I also recommend doing the walk in the morning, as it’s a lot cooler, especially since the majority of the trail is shady. Keep your eye out for the monkeys, too! Enjoy!
*…of buildings. Not sure what you’re thinking of.
**Does this make us all One Directioners?
***Then there are those athletic people who run on this trail like a boss. I am jealous of their muscular bodies and they probably have great sex. Damn them! *shakes fist*

Singapore is the Greenest City on earth. Not if you look at it’s carbon footprint, but if you look at it from the moon and you compare it to other cities the same size.
Singapore lost most of it’s original rainforest to economic development in the form of concrete but in 1968 already, he development of Singapore as a Garden City was a vision put forward by former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Today Singapore has a lot of parks which are all connected. Eventhough very beautiful, you can still feel it’s a bit artificial, like gardens by the bay.
The HSBC Treetop Walk doesn’t feel that way. It’s pure original rainforest. And the best thing is that it’s a treetop walk, which gives you such a different view of the forest than walking just on the ground. The actual treetop walk is a suspension bridge between the two highest points of the walk, bukit pierce and bukit kalang. But the rest of the walk along the MacRitchie Resevoir is also very worth it. Look up the beginning point on google maps and take note that the walk is a circle, so if you want to take a short walk I won’t recommend this because it’s not nice to walk hence and forth. It’s better to take your time and walk the full circle, which will take you around and hour if you jog.

When I first saw the treetop walk I was immediately reminded of the one in Kota Kinabalu — in Malaysia Sabah. The structure’s about the same — a wooden hut of sorts with stairs for you to climb up and start walking the bridge. The bridge’s suspended high above the trees; it gets higher and higher as you walk along. At the mid-​point you can look down at all the greenery below you and tell yourself Singapore’s a green city after all.
The width of the bridge can barely contain two tiny people — if someone wishes to cross (which is not allowed by the way), both parties would have to skew to the sides. Kids like to jump and shake the bridge, which is easily shaken by the way, despite its almost metallic ropes that are secure and rigid. A good place for anyone who’s afraid of heights to train up their courage.
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If you need a good dose of greenery and don’t know where to get those hiking boots dirty, suit yourself up for the treetop walk. The treetop walk is actually along a free-​standing suspension bridge that connects the two highest points (Bukit Peirce and Bukit Kalang) in MacRitchie.
It was a little drizzly when my fiancé and I got there, lucky for us we brought an umbrella. It was a weekend and there were lots of families and groups of people hiking along, while it was not the most peaceful walk but at least you won’t get lost in the jungle.
You can get to the TreeTop Walk either from the MacRitchie Reservoir Park or from the carpark at Venus Drive. I suggest driving to Venus Drive (off Upper Thomson Road) because from here its a shorter 45mins to 1hour walk compared to the 1.5 to 2hours walk from MacRitchie Reservoir. Just double the time for the total duration since it will be a round trip to and fro.
The walk wasn’t that gruelling, a few uphills but not as strenuous for someone who doesn’t train for a long hike like me. Along the way, you can enjoy the jungle scenes of little streams and even monkeys — watch out for those!
Once you reach the treetop itself, there’s no turning back (coz traffic is one-​way) so if you’re afraid of heights you’ve just got to suck it up and walk! The bridge is 250m long. You can take your time but the bridge is quite narrow so there will be people behind you. You can stop and stand aside to take in the view just as long as you don’t get in the way of people walking. It’s quite a sight standing atop rows and rows of trees, the highest point is 25m above ground. Standing on a birds eye view of the jungle is the rarest sight in singapore so I suggest just taking a moment (and some pictures)!
After that, you hike your way back to your starting point.
Final verdict: Nothing can top the feeling of being on top of the world, and the long hike is worth the tiny goosebump you get when you stand above those majestic trees.