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Macritchie Park

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Macritchie Park located at the southern edge of the Central Catchment Nature Reserve. The development of MacRitchie Reservoir (then known as the Impounding Reservoir) in 1868 brought the forest devastation around the area to a halt. The forest around the reservoir was protected as a water catchment reserve. The forests surrounding the other two reservoirs, Peirce and Seletar, were also protected when these reservoirs were developed later.

In 1891, the Impounding Reservoir, as it was then known, was further enlarged under the supervision of the Municipal Engineer James MacRitchie. MacRitchie Dam was enlarged between 1891 and 1894. The dam was further raised by 1.5m in the period 1903-1905 to increase its storage capacity. The cost of the extension was 000 and it increased the capacity of the reservoir to over 1840 million cubic metres (468 million gallons).

The enlarged reservoir was named the Thomson Road Reservoir in 1907 but in 1922, it was renamed MacRitchie Reservoir to recognise James MacRitchie's work.

Over 100 ha of primary forest still flourish in the Central Catchment Nature Reserve today, particularly around MacRitchie. Rubber trees, remnants of the plantations there in the 19th century, can still be seen along the fringes around MacRitchie. High quality boardwalks skirting has been contructed at the edge of the scenic MacRitchie Reservoir and walking trails through the forest. They range in distances from 3 km to 11 km, allowing nature lovers to experience as much or even as little of the nature reserves as they like. Interpretative signboards along the boardwalks reveal the mysteries of nature and allow for a self-guided tour along the fringes of the MacRitchie forest.