I just did an exploratory ride on the Green Corridor, from Buona Vista area, northwards to Bukit Timah. Here is a detailed guide on where the junctions are, and what to watch out for at each section. This information is valid as of August 2020, as some sections of the Green Corridor are still under construction.
Starting from opposite Buona Vista MRT, at point A, I started taking pictures and noting my location along the route. For this ride, I used my Cervelo Aspero gravel bike as I am expecting some off-road sections on this route.
Fully equipped for some adventure riding, with two full water bottles and a large frame bag.
The letters indicate the points where the photos shown below were taken.
Point A1: Start of Green Corridor section, this is opposite Buona Vista MRT. You will need to carry your bike down a flight of stairs, if you are coming from the road way level. Else the underpass links directly from the MRT station.
Point A1: Terrain is loose dark grey gravel. Doable on slim road tires, but go slow and make sure there is enough air pressure in the tires, or there is high risk of getting a puncture.
Point A1: Using gravel tires or MTB tires would be best as there is enough width and air volume to ride safely.
Point A2: After a short section of gravel, you will reach the paved section of the Green Corridor.
The paved section is made of stones, which are fixed into place, and has a smooth top surface that is painted dark red. Something like road asphalt, but with coarser stones. Suitable for any kind of bikes or tires.
From Point A2, you can ride the paved route all the way to Point B1, where this section of the Green Corridor ends.
Point B1: Take the stairs and exit the Green Corridor. This is located behind Cold Storage at Jelita.
Point B2: At the end of the path, you will exit beside Caltex petrol station.
This sign can be found at point B2. It is accurate as of August 2020.
This sign can be found at point B2. Suggested route on the pavement.
From point B2, take the pavement, following the suggested route as shown above. This will bring you to the next part of the Green Corridor, which is point C.
Point C: While riding along the pavement, you will come to this point, where there is an opening across the road.
Point C: This is the start of the next section of the Green Corridor. Note the gravel surface!
The entrance to the Green Corridor at point C is a gravel track. It is a narrow and steep downslope, with loose gravel. Only attempt to ride down this track if you are on a gravel bike or MTB, else it is better to push your bike while walking down.
Next section starts from point C, where I made a short detour to point D.
At the bottom of this gravel track at point C, you will reach a junction where you can turn left (northwards) or right (southwards). Although I know that northwards is the correct way to continue the Green Corridor ride, I decided to go southwards (towards point D) to see what is over there.
Point D: End of the trail, this part of the Green Corridor is still under construction.
Point D: You can exit the Green Corridor and onto Greenleaf View/Greenleaf Walk. When this section is completed, point B1 and point D will be linked.
Alternatively, instead of heading down the gravel track from point C, you can ride along the road till Greenleaf Walk, and enter the Green Corridor from here (point D).
Alternative: Instead of using the red route, take the blue route to enter the Green Corridor.
Point E: Red paved path all the way northwards.
Point F: Beautiful photo spot! I never knew a canal could look so nice. Weather was awesome as well.
Point G: Another unplanned detour. I saw a gravel track off the side of the Green Corridor, and made a quick turn to ride down that way. I was very happy to find more gravel to ride on.
This is exactly what a gravel bike is good for, for spontaneous exploration off the usual paved path. Once I saw the gravel track running off to the side, I just turned and headed down that way without thinking. And it brought me to an awesome area, as shown below.
Point H: This park connector bisects Holland Road, and is a really nice quiet area.
Point H: This is Holland Green Linear Park, which looks like a newly completed park connector!
Point I: Dead end for the park connector, but if you climb the flight of stairs located just beside this point, you will reach Garlick Avenue, which will lead you to Bukit Timah Road.
Point J: Took a different route back to the Green Corridor. The other side of the canal does not have a park connector, so I rode on the grass all the way back to point H.
From point H, I retraced the route back to the Green Corridor, passing by point G again.
Continuing northwards, the next highlight would be the old railway station as shown below at point K.
Point K: Old railway station, and a great photo spot. It's not often where you can get a clean picture with almost no one in it!
Point L: End of the Green Corridor for now, since the old railway bridge is currently inaccessible. This exits onto Bukit Timah Road, beside King Albert Park.
Point L: Another point of view for this entrance/exit to the Green Corridor.
From point L, if you wish to continue northwards, the shortest way is to climb the overhead bridge and cross the road. This would be much shorter than taking a long detour to the traffic light crossing.
Once across, I rode on the road along Rifle Range Road. There is another section of the Green Corridor that starts here, although it is not quite completed.
Point M: From Rifle Range Road, take the short flight of stairs up and you can continue on the Green Corridor.
Point N: This part of the route is off-road terrain, unlike any that I encountered earlier.
Point O: There is even single track to ride on! No problem for the gravel bike though.
Point P: This section of the Green Corridor ends here.
From point P, I had to find my way out of the Green Corridor, as there were no signs to indicate where to go next. After going down a steep and slippery slope, I finally ended up at Hindhede Place.
I don't recommend riding this section from point M to point P, as it is not safe to walk down the steep slope at point P with a bike. If you are trekking, it is OK, but not with a bike. There is nothing much to see along this section anyway.
The Green Corridor route ends here, at point P. The section northwards of point P (towards Hillview) is still under construction.
Point Q: Start of Bukit Timah MTB trail!
Point Q: Here is where Bukit Timah Hill starts. There is a long line of cars queuing up to go into the car park, and this area is pretty crowded. Cycling is not allowed inside.
If you want to ride on the Green Corridor, the section from point A to L is pretty good. There is a detour between point B1 and point D, but it is not a big issue. I recommend checking out Holland Green Linear Park, from points G to J.
A gravel bike or MTB would be able to ride the whole route without any issue. If you are riding a road bike or a folding bike, point C will not be rideable, but you can push the bike. Or, just take the alternative route as shown above, passing through Greenleaf Walk.
That's it! Hope the unfinished sections can be completed soon, and we can have a seamless ride all the way along the Green Corridor.
Thank you very much for this detailed walkthrough of the current status of the Green Corridor!
ReplyDeletegreat..nice article..Thank you
ReplyDeleteAwesome guide, thank you. This is really helpful. As of Feb'21, it seems like most of the construction is still in progress except you're now able to cycle across the old railway bridge (point L).
ReplyDeleteThis is outstandingly helpful, and very heartening to see for somebody with a gravel bike who just moved to Singapore!
ReplyDeleteThank you,the map and photographs help a lot!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the lead. May 21 update: The Rail Corridor is now paved and running uninterrupted from Tanjung Pagar till the Rail Mall overhead crossing. Except the stretch between Riffle Range Rd and Rail Mall, which is unpaved with small loose gravel.
ReplyDeleteYup I already did the new route as shown here.
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