Welcome to the Southern Ridges! The Ridges are a series of seven connected hill and coastal parks that span the length of Singapore’s south-western coastline. The full length of the hike from end-to-end is about 9 kilometres or about 3 – 5 hours walking time. Beginning with a hike up to Mount Faber Park, the path winds through Telok Blangah Hill Park before either turning south to Labrador Park via the Alexandra Floral Trail and Berlayer Creek Boardwalk, or continuing west to HortPark. After that, the route rises to cut across Kent Ridge Park and NUS Kent Ridge Campus before descending through Clementi Woods to West Coast Park.
The Southern Ridges can be traversed on foot or on bike, and are suitable for all ages and abilities. These parks feature both natural and urban beauty spots – ranging from serene forest walks through regenerating secondary forests to unique architectural gems. Most sections of the Southern Ridges are open 24 hours every day, except for HortPark which is open from 6 am – 11 pm daily.
This series of caches will highlight the various attractions you can find along the ridges, and help you learn more about these places and locales. Bring your family and camera along, and enjoy the hike through a scenic park of the island. We hope you will enjoy the walk as much as we did!
Stage 2: Pulai by the Marang
You're about halfway up the trail! Keep going! While you're at it, here's some information about the trees around you:
The Marang (Artocarpus odoratissimus) is a tree in the mulberry and fig family Moraceae. It is native to Borneo, Palawan, and Mindanao Island, and is closely related to the jackfruit, cempedak, and breadfruit trees which all belong to the same genus, Artocarpus. As indicated by the scientific name, the fruit has a strong scent, and is considered superior in flavour to both jackfruit and cempedak. The scent reminds some of the durian but is not so intense, and is in the thick skin and not the fruit pulp. The taste has hints of a mild creamy, almost juicy banana, and is best when not allowed to ripen thoroughly on the tree. Those ripened on the tree turn a more brownish color and will eventually fall to the ground and easily split open.
The Pulai (Alstonia spp.) is a tree up to 40 m tall, with a pagoda-shaped crown, and tiered branching. Its bark is dark grey, smooth when young, becoming slightly cracked when it gets older. The wood is pale yellow and soft. It is a fairly common tree in primary and secondary forests in the region. The one here is designated a heritage tree because of its impressive height and maturity.
You'll find the cache when you spot the right sign! Once you've signed in, take a break and continue upwards to the top of Mount Faber.