Coast-to-Coast (C2C) Trail: Detailed hiking guide from Rower’s Bay Park to Sengkang Riverside Park

Launched in March 2020, the Coast-to-Coast (C2C) Trail is a 36km trail that starts in the northeast/north region of Singapore and ends in Jurong Lake Gardens in the west (or vice versa, depending on where you start). Singapore is a land-strapped country and we don’t have the luxury of having huge, sprawling national parks. I thought the C2C trail was a pretty darn ingenious idea, linking different parks and pockets of green spaces together via existing roads and park connectors to create a longer trail.

Instead of completing the entire C2C trail in a day or two, we decided to break up the trail and attempt them in installments of 2 to 3 hours each. Doing it this way would make the trail more manageable for everyone and definitely more family-friendly. But of course, you can choose to complete all the checkpoints at one go!

Breaking up the C2C trail checkpoints into 2/3-hour blocks

Assuming you go from north to west, you can either start at Coney Island or Rower’s Bay Park. Here are all the checkpoints:

• CP10 Rower’s Bay Park in Seletar OR CP9 Coney Island > CP8 Punggol Waterway Park
• CP7 Sengkang Floating Wetland (Sengkang Riverside Park)
• CP6 Luxus Hills Park
• CP5 Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park
• CP4 Adam Road (near Singapore Botanic Gardens)
• CP3 Hindhede Park (near Bukit Timah Nature Reserve)
• CP2 Bukit Batok Nature Park
• CP1 Jurong Lake Gardens

There are smaller checkpoints in between to make sure you’re on the right track and I’ll list them all, as much as possible, as I recount my experience. Based on my experience so far (at the time of writing, we’re still halfway through the trail), here’s how you can break up the 36km C2C trail so that each stretch can be completed within 2 to 3 hours:

1. CP10 Rower’s Bay Park to CP7 Sengkang Floating Wetland (Completed; detailed guide below)
2. CP7 Sengkang Floating Wetland to CP5 Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park (Completed)
3. CP5 Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park to CP4 Adam Road (Completed)
4. CP4 Adam Road to CP1 Jurong Lake Gardens (Completed)
5. CP9 Coney Island to CP7 Sengkang Floating Wetland (Guide coming soon)

Random disclaimer: I’m doing most parts of these with my sister and we do it at a leisurely pace. We pick up pace only when it’s sweltering hot and there’s no shelter, which, by the way, happens a lot. We also can’t cycle (sad, I know) and that’s the reason we’re walking the entire distance.

What to prepare before you embark on the Coast-to-Coast Trail?

Keep a copy of the C2C online trail guide (in PDF) and this page (yes, I’m being shameless here) open on your device. You’ll need it a lot. Skip the C2C app and use Google maps instead. Also, keep in mind the key roads that you’re taking to make sure you don’t get terribly lost (read: don’t be like us).

You also want to have these with you:

• Water (keep the bottle as you can refill along the way)
• Cap (Singapore’s hot)
• Sunscreen (same reason as above)
• Mosquito repellent
• Some snacks to replenish your energy (optional)
• Wet tissues (optional)
• Spare masks (it’s pretty gross to use the same mask throughout)

From Rower’s Bay Park in Seletar to Sengkang Riverside Park

The route in a nutshell: From the entrance of Rower’s Bay Park, cross the roads to get to the park connector nestled in the road divider of West Camp Road > Walk along Seletar Aerospace Drive > Continue down Piccadilly then Jalan Kayu > Turn into Sengkang West Way.

Including some brief breaks here and there, this sub-trail will take you about 2 to 2.5 hours at a moderate pace.

Getting to Rower’s Bay Park

Possibly one of the most ulu (remote) checkpoints in the entire C2C trail so I won’t judge if you grab here. If you’re taking public transport, you can take bus 103 from Yishun station. Or, 117 from Punggol station though it means you’re sort of riding the route in reverse.

CP10 Rower’s Bay Park

The park itself is pretty small but looks out onto the Lower Seletar Reservoir. The views are excellent in the mornings and sometimes you will see families picnicking or enthusiasts trying out their miniature remote-controlled boats.

We thought we had to walk through the park to get to the park connector leading towards Sengkang but boy, we were so wrong. After walking the length of Rower’s Bay for about 30 minutes, we reached a dead end and had to u-turn. And that was 1 hour in the park without advancing the C2C trail at all.

It was pretty interesting though. You walk alongside the fences of the Seletar country club, among bushes on undeveloped routes. We jestingly call it a comparison between low and high SES as you fumble through the bushes while people are playing golf and traversing the immaculate grounds in their buggies on the other side of the fence.

Seletar West Park Connector

The correct way to get to Sengkang Riverside Park is to NOT enter the park. Instead, at the entrance of the park, cross the bridge over Yishun Dam, then cross Seletar link to get to the Seletar West Park Connector that’s hidden in the road divider. Yes, road divider.

On top of getting lost in Rower’s Bay, we also took almost 30 minutes looking for the park connector so don’t be like us.

You’ll walk along this park connector for about 2.9km so that will take about 40 minutes or less. Most of it will be along the Seletar Airport. Just before the next checkpoint, you’ll pass by the imposing building of Wah Son Aerospace. Perhaps an odd thing to look at, but I really like the architecture. It’s designed by Ipli Architects and from the outside, it looks absolutely monolithic but as you round the building, you’ll notice this crevice in the middle where the building seems to open up.

I used to take the bus that passes by this building in the mornings and the golden rays would shine through this crevice; it’s as though the building glows. I’m definitely not the best person to describe the architecture. You can read more about it here.

Heritage Trees

The heritage trees are just after the Wah Son Aerospace building. It will be a quick pit stop before you forge on for the bustling Jalan Kayu street. During this portion, you will also pass by the restaurants and cafes at the Aerospace Park such as Wheeler’s Estate. You can take a quick break here or head on to Hampstead wetlands park.

Hampstead Wetlands Park

You can see the park as you continue down the route but going into the park would require a slight detour. It seems to be good place for birdwatchers as we caught a small group with their equipment when we were there.

Park connector signs from here are almost non-existent so do whip out your Google map and look out for road signs. You should watch out for an almost 150 degrees turn towards your right onto Piccadilly.

On the map, it looks like this:

Piccadilly to Jalan Kayu

From here, it’s a straight, boring road all the way to the Piccadilly Circus roundabout. This stretch is about 1km and you should be able to get past this in 15 to 20 minutes.

Keep to your left and continue walking down before heading out on the second exit. The first should lead to Jln Mlnyak while the second, which is the correct one, leads to Jalan Kayu. Go past the Jalan Kayu flyover to return to civilisation.

Here, you’ll see rows of restaurants flanking the narrow Jalan Kayu road. Take a quick break or even have your meal here while your choices are still plenty. The next one would be the “O’ My Kampong’ eatery in Sengkang Riverside Park.

CP7 Sengkang Riverside Park

Continue walking down past all the shophouses. Look out for a left turn onto Sengkang West Way. From there, you’ll walk on the pavement beside the main road past the HDB blocks to Sengkang Riverside Park. It’s a straight 1 km and just another 15 to 20 minutes to the park.

The 21-hectare park has gentle slopes and large open fields and even houses a floating wetland so do set aside some time to explore the park.

The nearest LRT stations are Kupang and Farmway, which will bring you back to Sengkang MRT station. You can also take bus 85 to Punggol or Yishun.

Overall sentiments on Rower’s Bay Park to Sengkang Riverside Park

Honestly, this is one of the less interesting stretches. There are few landmarks along the way, save for Seletar Airport and Hampstead wetland park. The Piccadilly stretch is also very industrial and it seems like there’s some construction going on too, so it gets pretty dusty. I’ll probably not revisit this segment though I do see myself returning to Sengkang Riverside Park for a short hike. Rower’s Bay Park might be more suitable for picnics or a quick pit stop.

Next: Sengkang Riverside Park to Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park

Looking for other trails in Singapore? Check out the Marang Trail (Faber Peak and Southern Ridges), scenic hike around the Marina Bay area, or the MacRitchie Tree Top Walk.