Keppel Hill Reservoir Trail

Keppel Hill Reservoir trail is not managed by the park services, and the trailhead was not easy to find by looking at the map only. That's exactly when the adventure started. 

Even though the trail head is clearly identified on Google satellite map, at the far corner of Seah Im Carpark, it was not easy to find in plain sight! After some looking around and online research, we found out the the trailhead was right by our parked car, between the fence and a big tree.

trailhead

Right behind the big tree, we faced a steep slope. It is so steep and rough, someone actually tied ropes from the top of the slope to its bottom, helping hikers to ascend. Passing the Seah Im Bunker, we were surrounded by richly green overgrown vegetations and tall trees. The Reflection towers were in the background under a thick dark cloud. A short distance away, about 200 meters, we reached the reservoir, which by itself was underwhelming. We walked around the reservoir, in fact a small pond, for 15 minutes or so in thick woods and rough trail surfaces. It rained a few drops and stopped.

steep start

rich green with Reflection towers in the background

The Keppel Hill Reservoir

the trail we hiked at Keppel Hill reservoir and Mt Faber

When we were taking a few photos to mark the really short hike at the pond, a boy with his father came to the pond. I commented to them that this was a really short hike. He told us that we could continue to hike to Mt Faber from the right hand side of the pond. We decided to hike to Mt Faber.

The trail to Mt Faber was steep (~ 70degree), but short ( ~ 500 meters) and small elevation change ( ~ 75 meters). When reached Mt Faber, we had a different viewpoint from our previous visits to Mt Faber. The dark clouds moved away, the Sun shone on us. It was beautiful!

We actually arrived at Poland's Bells of Happiness!

trail to Mt Faber

abandoned stairs

Tree tunnel

trail to Mt Faber summit - where the cable car station is

taking it all in

view from Mt Faber

Poland's Bells of Happiness

Notes

1. This is the fourth off-the-beaten-path trail we hiked on after Mandai T15, being the first with a local friend, Alexandra Woodland, a.k.a . the Deck, and Clementi Forest. It is the unknowns, the natural beauty of the wilderness that make the hikes exciting.

2. We took a much easier trail, the Marang Trail, down Mt Faber, and back to our car.

3. We passed the Seah Im Bunker and Japanese Tomb, both were unremarkable.