Bukit Timah Nature Reserve
Singapore's highest hill tops out at just 165 metres — and its slopes carry primary rainforest that outlasted a granite quarry and a century of urban growth.
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One of the last primary rainforest patches in Singapore, formally protected since 1883 on the recommendation of Nathaniel Cantley, Superintendent of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, and declared an ASEAN Heritage Park in 2011. Together with the adjacent Central Catchment reserve it shelters over 840 flowering plant species and 500 fauna species — equatorial biodiversity dense enough to justify the 15-km trip from the city centre.
What to look for
- The summit at 165 m — the highest natural point in all of Singapore, on a hill whose Malay name translates simply as Tin Hill
- Primary rainforest canopy along the trails, one of the largest intact patches remaining in the country
- The old Dairy Farm quarry, a former granite extraction site now used for rock-climbing and abseiling
About 15 km north-west of the Central Area; the reserve covers roughly 2 km², so all trails loop back within a short distance.
Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is one of 30 sights worth the detour in Singapore, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Singapore pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Singapore
- Singapore Botanic GardensThe world's only tropical UNESCO garden — where 1920s rubber supplied half the planet's latex and orchids now carry diplomats' names.
- Marina Bay SandsA 150-metre infinity pool balanced on the world's largest public cantilevered platform, jutting 66.5 metres past the edge of its own tower.
- Marina Bay Street CircuitLewis Hamilton said this 4.927 km loop was twice as physically punishing as Monaco — and you can walk every metre of it.
- Marina BayThe entire bay you're standing beside was open sea until 1992 — 38 years of reclamation drained the anchorage and pushed the Singapore River's mouth inland.
- Gardens by the BayThe world's largest glass greenhouse anchors a 105-hectare park on Singapore's Marina Reservoir.
- Singapore FlyerFor six years this was the tallest Ferris wheel on earth — Las Vegas finally beat it in 2014, by just 2.6 metres.