Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

Bukit Timah covers about a hundred and sixty-three hectares of forest around Singapore's highest point at a hundred and sixty-three metres, and a large part of it is primary rainforest that has never been cleared, which on an island this developed is remarkable. Alfred Russel Wallace collected here in the 1850s. The number of tree species recorded in the reserve is often said to exceed that of the whole of North America, which is roughly true and gives the scale of the diversity.

Background

The reserve came about after Nathaniel Cantley of the Singapore Botanic Gardens assessed the forests of the Straits Settlements in 1882, and Bukit Timah was set aside in 1883. The Nature Reserves Ordinance of 1951 gave it formal protection, and on 18 October 2011 it became an ASEAN Heritage Park. The hill served for many years as a granite quarry until work stopped in the mid-1900s. The forest holds 18 species of dipterocarps, and it is one of two places in Singapore with the red-crowned barbet. Raffles' banded langur died out here in 1987, yet a single male was seen in July 2026. Since late 2013 the Eco-Link@BKE bridge has joined the reserve to the Central Catchment Nature Reserve.

Source: Wikipedia, "Bukit Timah Nature Reserve"

What you'll find

• The primary forest - stands never cleared, rare anywhere in Southeast Asia.
• The summit - Singapore's highest natural point at 163 metres.
• The long-tailed macaques - troops along the paths, habituated and bold.
• The Wallace connection - the forest where he collected in the 1850s.

When to go

Year round; early morning is coolest and best for wildlife. Afternoon thunderstorms are frequent and the reserve closes trails in bad weather. Weekends are crowded.

Before you go

The main road up is a paved slog and crowded at weekends. Macaques will take food and bags and should not be fed. Humidity makes even the short routes hard work.

Nearby

Dairy Farm and Hindhede parks adjoin, and the central catchment is east.

Key facts