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Trail:I-5 Colonnade

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1 Trail Description
2 How to find it
3 Typical Conditions
4 Current Conditions
5 Park Maps
6 TTF Maps
7 Local Points of Interest
8 Misc. Information
- 8.1 Colonnade in the Media
9 Photos
10 Videos




Name	I-5 Colonnade
Tech Rating
Grunt Rating
Singletrack	100%
Fire road	0%
Paved	0%
Total trail	0.5 mi.
Alt. change	50
Latitude:	47.634902
Longitude:	-122.323279
Nearest medical:	Not set yet
Page adopted by:	R1de


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Trail Description

I-5 Colonnade is the first ever urban mountain bike skills park. It's part of a City of Seattle park, but was funded and constructed by the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance (formerly Backcountry Bicycle Trails Club). The park features a novice area - the Tqalu Trail; an intermediate and advanced area - Limestone Loop; a dirt jumping section; pump track; trials area and more.

The Tqalu Trail features:

Ladder bridge
Teeter totters
Rock chute
Log rolls and skinnies

The Tqalu TTFs are in the range of 1 to 2 stars for technical difficulty.

Limestone Loop offers a 1/2-mile tight'n'twisty Cross Country loop with several intermediate to advanced options. It's a great place to work on key skills by sessioning:

Tight switchbacks
Ladder bridges, log rides and skinnies
Steep rock chutes and technical rock rolls
Narrow teeter totters
Suspension bridge
Rock step-ups
A long ladder bridge roller coaster ride (be careful to keep your speed waaaay down... she bucks!)

The Limestone Loop TTFs are in the range of 2 to 4 stars for technical difficulty.

The Advanced area provides:

More flowy advanced trails
Jumps, berms and wall rides
Long, narrow, elevated skinnies
Progressive and elevated drops
Steep rock chutes
Pump track
Trials area

The TTFs in the advanced area are just that - advanced. Prepare accordingly!

How to find it

Colonnade is located between the Capitol Hill and Eastlake neighborhoods, under the I-5 freeway, more or less below St Mark's Cathedral. It's where Lakeview Blvd turns underneath the freeway and turns into Boylston Ave. There are multiple entrances, but the best for parking is on the east side of the park off of Lakeview Blvd E.

East-side / Lakeview-side Entrance: 1800 Lakeview Blvd E, Seattle, WA 98102 (Google/Yahoo maps will get you there). Parking is available on Lakeview Blvd.

West-side / Eastlake-side Entrance: 1800 Franklin Ave E, Seattle, WA 98102 -- at the intersection of Franklin Ave E & E Blaine St. (Google/Yahoo maps will get you there). Limited parking is available on Franklin Ave and on some of the side-streets.

If you're headed north on I-5, take exit 168A for Lakeview Blvd. Take a left onto Lakeview and immediately park on your left. The bike trails are on the west side of Lakeview.

If you're headed south on I-5, take exit 168A for Boylston Ave / Roanoke St. Merge onto Boylston and go straight at the light. Follow Boylston south, paralelling I-5, veer left under the freeway, and then park on your right.

Map for Lakeview Blvd entrance.

Map for Franklin Ave entrance.

Typical Conditions

Because Colonnade is primarily under the elevated spans of I-5, the surface of the main riding areas are almost always dusty and dry. The upper section features a few areas more exposed to the elements, but good drainage and surface materials mean you'll never meet a muddy day anywhere at Colonnade. It's a great mountain biking haven even in the middle of a rain-soaked Seattle winter.

Skills classes are occasionally held at Colonnade; check the evergreen calendar for any up-coming events.

Note that Colonnade can eat up bikes and be quite challenging - it would be nuts to ride here without a helmet, and full face helmet and/or body armor is advised for the tricky areas.