5 new walking trails allow hikers to explore heritage sites and win supermarket vouchers

SINGAPORE - Residents can turn their regular neighbourhood walks into rewarding and informative adventures with the launch of Walking Trails@CDC.

Covering distances of between 4.35km and 5.5km each, the new trails located in each of the five main Singapore districts allow hikers to exercise while engaging in digital activities on their mobile phones.

They were launched on Aug 16 by Law Minister and Second Minister for Home Affairs Edwin Tong, together with the mayors of the five Singapore districts.

The initiative is a collaboration between the community development councils (CDCs) and the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech), and is in line with the national

Healthier SG

initiative to promote preventive health and community wellness.

Each trail comprises five checkpoints featuring iconic and scenic landmarks in Singapore such as the Bukit Timah Railway Station, Little Guilin, Fort Canning Centre, East Coast Beach and Punggol Promenade Bridge.

The first 5,000 people to complete all five checkpoints in each trail or collect digital mascots can earn up to $10 in RedeemSG vouchers, which can be spent at participating supermarkets like FairPrice, Cold Storage and Sheng Siong.

The CDCs said the trails are designed to showcase the rich culture, heritage and green spaces of each district. There are plans to introduce new routes in other areas, like Marsiling and Sungei Kadut.

Navigating each trail

The trails can be found on the CrowdTaskSG platform at

go.gov.sg/walkingtrailscdc

, and do not require any app download.

Singapore citizens and permanent residents aged 15 and above with Singpass and CrowdTaskSG accounts can log in to start hiking.

The first checkpoint at the start is located near public transport facilities such as MRT stations and bus stops for convenience.

Users can follow the routes and complete activities at each checkpoint. These include capturing photos of specific sites and answering questions about that location.

Interspersed between the checkpoints, participants can also collect five distinct CDC Ollies – digital owl mascots representing the CDCs’ community pillars of caring, learning, inclusivity, health and sustainability.

Speaking at the launch event at Assumption Pathway School on Cashew Road, off Upper Bukit Timah Road, Mr Tong called the walking trails a great initiative by the five CDCs, as they do more than encourage people to stay active.

He said: “Fitness is one thing, but building social capital, building cohesion, working together with friends, is really something else.

“You will never imagine that in a small Singapore, we will have so much of heritage, natural beauty and scenery, and all of these five uniquely curated walks... will showcase to you a different part of Singapore.”

Mr Yip Ren Kai, 42, who runs a sports marketing agency, walks around his neighbourhood in the Potong Pasir area at least three times a week with his wife and two daughters, aged 14 and 11.

Having experienced the North West CDC trail, he said walking trails like these are more engaging with a game element.

He added: “Through this, you find out a lot more about our surroundings and what is happening around us.”

His daughter, Yip Mun Hyun, a Secondary 2 student at Methodist Girls’ School, likened the trail experience of collecting Ollies to Pokemon Go, a popular mobile game where players catch virtual Pokemon characters while exploring the real world.

She said: “With exams approaching, it can be very stressful. So, coming out in the morning to have a walk and look at the scenery is really enjoyable. Especially with trying to catch all the different Ollies lurking around.”

Central Singapore CDC Trail

Spanning 4.7km, it runs through the heart of Singapore’s civic district and covers heritage sites starting with Kreta Ayer Square in Chinatown.

Hikers will take the Elgin Bridge Underpass built in 1862, then move on to Victoria Concert Hall, followed by Singapore’s oldest surviving fire station and national monument, the Central Fire Station at Hill Street. The last checkpoint is the Fort Canning Centre, at Fort Canning Hill.

North East CDC Trail

It covers a distance of 4.5km in Punggol, bringing hikers on an S-shaped route that commences at Waterway Point shopping mall.

After passing Safra Punggol and Oasis Terrace along the Punggol Waterway, the public can get a close-up view of Coney Island from the Punggol Promenade Bridge.

The last stop is Singapore’s take on Silicon Valley, the newly built Punggol Digital District, which is expected to be completed in 2026.

North West CDC Trail

The longest trail at 5.5km, it starts at the walkway outside Cashew MRT station.

Hikers are guided through a relatively straight path enveloped by greenery from the surrounding Bukit Batok Nature Park and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. They will pass through checkpoints that offer Instagram-worthy photo opportunities, such as the access path from Hillview Road and Singapore Quarry, and Hindhede crossing and Bukit Timah Railway Station at the Rail Corridor.

South East CDC Trail

This coastal route takes users on a 4.9km journey, beginning at Fort Tanjong Kantong, which was built in the 1880s.

Singapore’s tallest slide is at the next checkpoint, the Coastal Playgrove. The last three stops are the Amber Beacon Tower, East Coast Beach Breakwater and Siglap Canal Lookout Deck.

South West CDC Trail

The shortest route at 4.35km, it is similar to the North West trail, with views of the landscape.

Beginning at Beauty World MRT station, users will move on to the map post at the entrance of the Bukit Batok Nature Park before reaching the lookout point in the middle of the trail. They will then cross into the Hillview area to reach the final pit stop, Little Guilin in Bukit Batok Town Park with its distinctive granite rock formation.