Rifle Range Nature Park is a 66-ha nature park offering a cliff-top viewing gallery and over 7km of trails and boardwalks for families to discover.
Venue: Along Rifle Range Road
Opening Hours: 7 am - 7 pm
Admission: Free
Located at the site of the former Sin Seng Quarry along Rifle Range Road, Rifle Range Nature Park opens on 12 Nov 2022 offering a freshwater wetland converted from the Sin Seng Quarry, a cliff-top viewing deck at the top of the quarry and over 7km of trails and boardwalks with varying difficulties.
The 66-ha nature park serves as a direct buffer to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, which has Singapore’s largest primary forest untouched by human intervention. Although it was originally a site cleared from the old Bukit Timah Kampong and the Sin Seng Quarry, after 30 years and due to its proximity to the Bukit Nature Reserves, the forest has regenerated to be what it is today.
Here are some highlights of the park for families to take note of!
Getting There... Easily Through The Bridge
To get to the park, you will find a bridge from the fourth floor of Beauty World Centre and from Beauty World MRT Station that leads you into the forest. The bridge leads you to the Rambai Broadwalk (approx. 525m) where you will get learn about Rifle Range Nature Park’s rich history as the site of the previous Singapore Gun Club and Sin Seng Quarry.
This is the only bridge in a nature park here to be built at this level of elevation into the canopy, and was built to ensure that lush parts of the forest were just a short walk away and to make it convenient for families to visit the park.
Hike Up To The Colugo Deck To Get A Bird's Eye View
The Colugo Deck is a 31m-tall lookout point situated at the top of the quarry and is the only viewing point in mainland Singapore that perches on the edge of a cliff. The design of the Colugo Deck is inspired by how the Sunda Colugo (an endangered tree-climbing mammal that glides across trees) looks like when in flight.
The deck provides a bird’s-eye view of the wetlands and its boardwalks, and can be reached by hiking up the Colugo Trail (approx. 582m). Do note that the path leading to the deck is quite challenging as it is made of steep irregular granite stones.
Spot Wetland Animals At The Transformed Quarry
Transformed from the former Sin Seng Quarry, one of Singapore’s deepest granite mines closed in 1998, the quarry was left abandoned and turned into an undeveloped swamp-like environment as it filled with rainwater.
The area has been trasnformed into a freshwater ecosystem, now known as the Quarry Wetland, making full use of the existing terrain and provides habitats for wetland animals like the Scarlet Skimmer, Common Kingfisher and even migratory birds.
Spot The Animal Crossing Structures
Getting from the Visitor Pavilion to the Quarry Wetland, families will go across the barrier-free elevated Gliders Boardwalk (approx. 411m). Make sure to keep your eyes out for crossing features such as rope bridges and colugo poles from a section of the boardwalk which is above Rifle Range Road to aid tree-dwelling animals to cross Rifle Range Road safely
Also built within the park are underground tunnel-like structures beneath Rifle Range Road for small mammals too!
Play and Learning Elements
Other than its natural elements, the park also has included educational elements for families. For example, you will find a replica of a rock-sorting machine together with information boards describing the history of Singapore quarries.
Following the Forest Exploration Trail (approx. 113m), families will find a play area where logs and boulders create a material connection with nature and enable children to hone their balancing skills as they climb, balance, or jump over the logs.
Opening Hours
Rifle Range Nature Park is open from 7 am to 7 pm. it is closed to allow the nocturnal animals to feed and move around without disturbance at night.
Getting Here
You can enter the nature park via 6 entrances found along Rifle Range Road, Upper Bukit Timah Road, Hindhede Drive, Jalan Kampong Chantek and the Rail Corridor.
By MRT
Beauty World (DT5): Take Exit A and head to Beauty World Centre Level 4. The overhead bridge links directly to Rambai Boardwalk, which leads you to the Visitor Pavilion.
By Bus
184, 852, 961: Alight at Opp Beauty World (Bus stop ID: 42109)
41, 52, 61, 77, 157, 174, 184, 852, 961, 970, 985: Alight at Opp Bt Timah Plaza (Bus stop ID: 42089)
By Car
The park includes a carpark with 68 carpark lots and a vehicle drop off point at the Visitor Pavilion
Photo Credits: NParks
