Unlike the Heritage Edition routes, which focus heavily on historical landmarks and cultural spaces, this South West Trail is more of a journey through Singapore’s western green corridor, with a few interesting historical nuggets along the way.
Launched in August 2025, the trail starts from the Beauty World MRT Station and ends at Little Guilin at Bukit Batok, covering about 4.4km through a mix of neighbourhoods, parks and nature spaces. You’ll be rewarded with tranquil quarry views, lush greenery, and some of the most photogenic landscapes in western Singapore.
Checkpoint 1 – Beauty World MRT Station
Drop off at the Beauty World MRT Station, which is along the Downtown MRT Line, if you are coming by train. This is the first checkpoint of the trail. Log onto Walking Trails @ CDC: South West and start your walk. Don’t forget to check-in at the checkpoint and perform your first task and catch the Ollies!
Long before this MRT station opened on 27 December 2015, the Beauty World area was a bustling market and shopping district in Singapore.
Its colourful history dates back to the Japanese Occupation with the establishment of an amusement park known as Da Dong Ya (大东亚) over a land which used to house attap houses and plantations of rubber, mangosteen and pineapple. Da Dong Ya was a popular venue for wayang and getai back then. There was also a dance hall, food stalls, a cinema, and entertainment for children. The place was also notoriously popular for its gambling stalls.
When World War II ended, Da Dong Ya was converted into the Beauty World Market in 1947. While still a spot for gambling and staged shows, locals could also find many household appliances, cosmetics, books and even antiques sold there. The market expanded when the Beauty World Town was developed in 1962 and included a fresh market.
Today, the Beauty World Centre, the Beauty World Plaza and the row of many shophouse eateries across the road stand over this illustrious past. Its own vibrant charm has also been revitalised with the opening of the MRT station and subsequently the Rifle Range Nature Park in November 2022, where many parkgoers now visit the area for meals before and after their walks. With new condominiums being developed and a one-stop integrated hub comprising a community club, market, and the Bukit Timah Hawker Centre slated to open in 2029, the district is set to become even more vibrant in the years ahead.
If you like to know more about the Beauty World history, check out this resource by the National Library Board.
Checkpoint 2 – Map Post (Bukit Timah PC – B.B.E. Ave 6)
En route towards the next location, you’ll pass by these landmarks – the Beeh Low See Buddhist Temple and the Bukit Timah Community Club – and residential areas.
This next checkpoint is a map post, specifically for the Bukit Timah Park Connector – Bukit Batok East Ave 6, which will lead you towards the Bukit Batok Nature Park, about 500m away. Look out for these signs below. Simply follow the pathway and catch Ollies along the way. While you are at it, enjoy a leisurely walk at the park, look up at the blue sky and snap some photos.
Honestly, this was my first time taking this route to Bt Batok Nature Park. It’s probably a path I would never have discovered if not for the Walking Trails @ CDC initiative.
Checkpoint 3 – Bukit Batok Nature Park Lookout Point
Things start to get much more interesting once you enter Bt Batok Nature Park.
The highlight along this route is the next checkpoint – the Lookout Point – which is a tranquil quarry lake. Many visitors may not realise that it was once part of a granite quarry known as Poh Kim Quarry.
Singapore once had a thriving granite quarrying industry. During the nation’s early years of development in the 1970s, granite was in high demand for the construction of roads, buildings and infrastructure. At one point, as many as 18 quarries were operating across the mainland and Pulau Ubin. When quarrying ceased in the 1980s, many sites were transformed into nature parks, like this area in Bt Batok. Today, these are among the few cliffs you can see in Singapore where its geological facade, particularly beautiful during sunrise and sunset with reflections on its picturesque lake, makes for great Instagrammable photoshoots.
It’s hard to imagine that this peaceful landscape was once an active industrial site.
Checkpoint 4 – Welcome to Hillview!
To make your way to the next checkpoint, you’ll have to backtrack quite a bit and exit the park. Again, you’ll be directed to it if you follow and catch the Ollies. By the time I exited the park, I had caught all 5 Ollies and earned myself a S$5 voucher!
Once out, you’ll be in the Hillview district and walking along the Hillview Park Connector, which will bring you to this interesting sign that says “Welcome to Hillview!”. That’s Checkpoint 4. Forgot to snap a shot of it.
Hillview is a residential neighbourhood with public housing and many private condominiums. But did you know that the area played an important role during World War II? The Former Ford Factory, situated nearby, was where the British surrendered Singapore to the Japanese forces on 15 February 1942 and the Japanese Occupation of Singapore began. Today, it is a designated national monument and museum that hosts exhibits on the Japanese Occupation. What many people may not know is that Bt Batok Nature Park was once home to two wartime memorials – Syonan Chureito and British Memorial Cross. Today, little remains of them apart from a flight of steps hidden within the park.
Checkpoint 5 – Little Guilin
The final checkpoint is undoubtedly one of the most scenic.
Little Guilin, or 小桂林, earned its nickname for its resemblance to the famous limestone landscapes of Guilin in China. The granite rock formations rising dramatically from the calm waters are among the most recognisable and picturesque landscapes in western Singapore.
Like the quarry at Bt Batok Nature Park, Little Guilin was once part of Singapore’s granite industry. Today, it has become a popular spot for photographers, joggers and residents looking for a peaceful place to unwind.
If you’re lucky enough to arrive near sunset, you’ll be rewarded with beautiful reflections of the granite cliffs on the water’s surface. Now, if only I had brought my drone along, it would have made for nice aerial shots of the landscape.
My Takeaway
Compared to the Kampong Glam and Woodlands routes, this one was less focused on heritage and more about showcasing the natural and geological history of western Singapore.
The trail isn’t the most exciting but I think the quarry landscapes at Bt Batok Nature Park and Little Guilin more than make up for it.
For photographers, these two locations are easily the highlights of the walk. The combination of water, greenery and dramatic granite formations offers plenty of opportunities for natural landscape photography, something that isn’t abundant in urban Singapore.
More importantly, the trail is a reminder of how Singapore constantly reinvents itself. Places that once supplied granite for the nation’s development have since been transformed into parks and recreational spaces for everyone to enjoy.
Not bad for a 4.4km walk — and of course, there are reward vouchers to earn too.
More importantly, the trail offers a different perspective of Singapore. Beyond the skyscrapers, shopping malls and hawker centres lies a landscape shaped by quarries, forests and decades of transformation. For both locals and visitors, it’s a reminder that there are still pockets of nature and history waiting to be discovered.
