Walking in Singapore: Clementi Forest
“C’est en marchant que vous trouverez votre route…”
Clementi Forest
Clementi Forest, is a trail close to my hiking identity: unchartered paths, unique flora fauna and almost untouched natural beauty. This trail is not for the faint hearted. Strong footholds and a love for raw nature is essential. As is essential, to lose fear: fear of unknown, fear of creatures old and new, fear of one’s incapacity, fear of being lost. It is a place I go repeatedly to lose and find myself.
“No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.” (David Wagoner)
As it is a path less beaten, the entries to this trail are tricky. There are several of them.
- Bus stop Opposite Maju Camp
- Green Corridor (after Old Bukit Timah Rly Station)
- Bus stop Opposite Ngee Ann Poly
My first attempt was through the entry near the bus stop “opposite Maju Camp”.
1. Starting at bus stop Opposite Maju Camp
The discarded Old KTM rail tunnel is clearly visible from the bus stop. One needs to climb down a relatively steep slope and
the tunnel entry is right in front.
However, if you enter the tunnel, it takes you out near a junction of Sunset Way and Clementi Street 14.
This is a fraction of the trail. So you should attempt the second entry as below. The flora fauna even in this short stretch is mesmerising.
2. Starting at Green Corridor (after Old Bukit Timah Railway Station)
Next, I tried to access it from the Green Corridor side near the old Bukit Timah Railway Station. The entry path is a nondescript one, to the right, just a few minutes after you have left behind the old BT railway station. The entry is shown in the photo above.
Once you get this entry, explore all the path trails — each of them will be rewarding. At any fork, explore the right trail, before retracing your steps to the fork and exploring the left trail. This entry, lets one explore the whole forest and the left path takes one to the old KTM tunnel and the rest of the trail till Sunset Way, as highlighted above. The greenery of this stretch of the forest is beyond description and is barely captured in some of the photos below:
Eating: Unfortunately, nothing that we found nearby. A cab/bus is your best option.
You would have done roughly 4.5–5 kms/2hrs (dont be surprised at the time and distance — it will take that long).
TRAIL MAP: Unfortunately, it is impossible to give a Google map route link for this route as this is literally “off the map”. I have attached my Runtastic map of my explorations through the Green Corridor entry as a rough guide. The fun in this one is not knowing and going wherever one feels like exploring.
Shorter trail: Start at the bus stop Opp Maju Camp, take the old KTM tunnel route and finish at Sunset Way. Or enter through the trailhead near the bus stop Opp Ngee Ann Poly and explore that side of the forest.
You would have roughly done 2kms/40 mins(time taken is mostly for clicking photos!)
Longer Trail: Start at the Green Corridor entry, explore all the trails to the right before re-tracing and exploring the trails to the left. One of the left trails will lead to the KTM tunnel and out to Sunset Way, as described earlier. Cross Sunset Way and go up the slope to your right, as in the photo.
You will find another stretch of discarded rail track. Continue in the short stretch till you reach Ulu Pandan Park Connector and can see the Old Jurong Line Railway Bridge.
Explore the north or south bank of the Ulu Pandan Park connector. This is a beautiful quiet park connector. One can connect to the Pandan Reservoir through this route and have a good long walk of 19/20kms, (including the Clementi Forest exploration).
The other option is to start the trail at Sunset Way/Clementi Crescent 14 junction (photo earlier) and enter the Green Corridor and walk to Hillview or even further.
However, in my experience, the flora and fauna in this trail is so unique that one typically will not want to combine this experience with any other trail.
Trivia: The soft grass patches in one part of this trail are deceptive and tricky. A footfall should be made carefully with a strong tight core, so one doesn’t twist one’s ankle when a full body weight falls on a very thick patch of grass that looked like solid ground but is obviously not. The flora and fauna are outstanding and makes it a not-to-miss trail.
“Plus est en vous”
