Hampstead Wetlands Park

The golf course closed, the low corner flooded, and a forest grew up on its own. Then somebody decided to keep it.

Go early, keep it short and build a Seletar morning around it. Hampstead Wetlands Park is a small, thick pocket of green in the middle of Seletar Aerospace Park, with boardwalks, view decks, a trail and a freshwater pond that draws kingfishers, bee-eaters and dragonflies. It suits birders, families with curious kids and anyone who wants a green reset without trekking to the far ends of the island. The compromise is size: at 3.23 hectares it is a walk, not a day out, so pair it with The Oval's bungalow restaurants a stroll away.

The story is the best part. This land was part of the Seletar Base Golf Course, which closed in 2007 to make way for the aerospace park. Its lowest corner became waterlogged and a small secondary forest grew up on its own. Rather than clear it, JTC and NParks designed it into a park, which opened in 2020. The forest core was conserved, the pond enhanced and native plants added, with the landscape stepping from open turf through shrubs into dense forest. It works as a nature-based solution too, helping to cool the area and give wildlife more room: a golf course that went wild and was kept for it.

The street names give away Seletar's past. It was a British RAF base from the 1920s, and the roads of the aerospace park still carry London names such as Baker Street, Piccadilly and Hyde Park Gate (1 Baker Street is, sadly, not the detective's address).

Bring patience and a decent camera. Look for butterflies, dragonflies and birds, including the white-throated kingfisher, the Blue Percher dragonfly and the Blue-tailed Bee-eater, all drawn to the freshwater habitat. The boardwalks are placed to keep people off the most sensitive areas, so stick to them and let the wildlife come to you; a still few minutes on a view deck beats a brisk lap.

How to do it well: come early in the morning or late in the afternoon, when the heat is gentler and birds tend to be more active, and check NParks for current access and any works before you go. It is about 20 minutes by bus from Sengkang MRT, and it links to the Seletar West Park Connector if you would rather arrive on foot or by bike. Afterwards, walk over to The Oval, the cluster of restored black-and-white bungalows whose restaurants include The Summerhouse, home of Wildseed, and let lunch be the second half of the morning.

Good to know Hampstead Wetlands Park is at 1 Baker Street in Seletar Aerospace Park; check NParks for current access and any works before you go.

Hampstead Wetlands Park | 1 Baker Street, Singapore 799977