I-5 Colonnade Mountain Bike Park

I have ridden here twice, and it is deteriorating… It was amazing when it was first built. They maximized worthless space, but now it is filled with trash and a homeless problem. They are literally camped under ramps and on trails. I would rate it as a 5 if it was at its potential. The structures in are in good shape mostly with a wide variety of terrain. The skinnies are super challenging and then jump lines are beginner to advanced.
My call is for Seattle to reinvest in it. There are mountains of materials already staged. Clean it up, rebuild and move out the homeless. Help them find a safer place for all. I almost squished one…

A haven for runners, bikers, and dog walkers! The city really made something great out of the random space under a freeway.
I walk up here every single day.
GREAT place to run stairs — it’s actually become a huge work out haven, as groups congregate to do stair exercises and then do strength training, yoga, or plyometrics on the grass above the colonnade.
You can also lounge at some of the nice picnic benches at the foot of the stairs near Eastlake Ave.
There used to be a lot of homeless people sleeping here… but for some reason they’ve gone away. There are still some people who hang out and do drugs, but I never feel unsafe — there are emergency alert buttons spaced out along the stairs there that you can push… it’s made it a lot safer.

I just visited for my first time and this place is awesome! Fun stuff to play on, whether you’re just learning or going for the big stuff. All sizes of drops and ladders low to the ground… just in case. It’s nice to see that a city actually accepts mountain biking, unlike down here in LA. We went in mid-​August and it was pretty dry and dusty but I’m used to that type of dirt so it didn’t bother me. Only a week later I heard it rained and I’m sure it would have been awesome again for everyone! I’ll definitely be hitting it up again my next time through.

This is a cool park, and a great use of space that would otherwise be unused.
Now, I don’t mountain bike at all, even a little, EVER. But I like to jog a little hills/​stairs circuit that takes me through this park, so I’ve seen a lot of people on the trails. It certainly looks hard, and conversations with some of the riders tells me it is as hard as it looks. (And dangerous, too — be careful!)
But I’ll review on what I use: the stairs, those concrete cylinders at the top of the stairs (perfect height for standing jumps), the little grassy area (it may be the dog park?) for stretching. It’s really awesome. The stairs are really just a cut through from the Franklin hill to the Howe St stairs (well, really the ones a block SE of those, but I can’t think of the St… Aloha? No…), which are amazing.
Seriously, why do I have a gym membership when there is all this outdoor goodness in Seattle, and the weather is rarely so severe as to keep me in? *facepalm*

It remains beyond me at how anyone could review this mountain bike park any lower than five stars because it is absolutely one of the best uses of otherwise dead space beneath a major highway. Seriously, ask any local architect or landscape architect and they would instantly applaud the idea and resume the conversation with how every dead space in the city could be transformed into something positive for the community such as this particular mountain bike park. Though the park is definitely constructed as more of a skills course for mountain bike riders, there also exists an adjacent dog park as well as one or two spots where one could find an unobtrusive seat to just observe others attempting the various obstacles.
As for the riding experience, we are definitely novices when it comes to the nuances of mountain bike riding and we are probably more in tune with road bikes and the like, but there are a variety of sections to test skills of every level and there are often quite a few riders who are ready and willing to give advice. The best advice that we got the entire day after severely wiping out on the section with the larger undulating ramps; always check your brake pads if you are lacking of health insurance.

I true hidden treasure! I drive by this park all the time and finally one evening that purple glowing light finally lured me in. I parked and discovered one of the most unique parks I’ve ever seen. If you’re an avid mountain biker this place must be like heaven! There are trails and obstacles galore. Although the park mostly caters to the needs of a bike rider, it’s also a great spot to walk or even just sit and observe.

It is very unique and I have never ridden anywhere quite like it, but sometimes less is more. It is a great idea and a lot of people have done a lot of work on this place, but it is really cramped. I personally would like less and faster trails with longer runs.
Today was my first and last trip to Colonade. It is not worth the 15min drive from my house. Better places to ride 15−20minutes away.
I’ll take the rain and the mud.

Dang… this is intense stuff with rocks, railroad tie crossings, wall riding, and other things that are just frankly beyond me. The only reason I’m giving this place 3 stars instead of 4 is that there’s not a lot that I saw that fits in my ability level so I didn’t stay for as long as I was planning. If I’d started mountainbiking as young as I started skiing, there would probably be no fear and I’d be hitting the jumps and everything. I saw some 16-​year-​old kids with so many pads that they looked like they were wearing chain-​mail armour, and I thought to myself: that seems about right.
My ability level is more like Powell Butte in Oregon. I think I’ll review that too. Time to start practicing again to do my Cannondale some justice…

Fantastic! Every city needs a Mtn Bike Skills Park like this!
Plenty for everyone…
Look for more pics and a review on:

Yea! somewhere to practice my skills while waiting for the weather to improve (you know, for 8 months of the year). i love how techinical the park is– you can work on any kind of skill, from the most basic to the most difficult. and yeah, the pump track rocks. you can take a hard tail, a full suspension, or even a downhill bike and have something to do here. For a place in the city, it’s pretty darn special.

Whoa… intense. Still in one piece though (me that is.) For any riding style, come check it out! Some amazing stuff going on here, urban, trials, big hit, big (ish) air, ladders, skinnies, teeter totters, rocks, and… my personal favorite, a pump track.
Now I don’t know if you’ve done a pump track before, or even know what a pump track is. But you need to try it. Bring any bike (in good working order of course). Enter the pump track. Don’t pedal. Pump. You’ll never need to do another push-​up, sit-​up, or squat. This is a seriously fun full body workout.
Just be careful not to tire yourself out too much and then try something too difficult. There’s so much cool stuff here the inclination is to ride all day, even after

Kick ass mountain bike trails, 2 acres in size, will contain over 1.5 miles of trail, which you can ride year-​round because they are covered by I-​5! lots of fun with steep rock chutes, tight banked turns, wooden teeter totters, ladder bridges, a swinging bridge, and «skinnies»!!
Thanks be to the Backcountry Bicycle Trails Club, and their many volunteers for making a truly unique space to ride in-​town.