^[1]

Tucked under I-5 in Eastlake, Colonnade Park ^[2] is probably the most secret of Seattle city parks. The park opened in 2005 and originally looked pretty forlorn — an empty area made up of stairs, rocks, and concrete columns. But if you poke your nose in the park today, you’ll find an elaborate layout of mountain bike trails and training grounds, courtesy of volunteers from the Evergreen Mounain Bike Alliance ^[3] (formerly Backcountry Bicycle Trails Club). According to the organization, volunteers have put in more than 12,000 hours building the skills area.

After years of work, the park is almost complete, and the organization is celebrating the grand opening ^[4] this weekend with a ribbon cutting, barbecue, and a drawing for prizes. The ribbon cutting starts at 10 a.m., and the event runs until 2:00.

Even if you can’t make it on Saturday, you should check out the park when you get a chance. It’s amazing to see how much transformation has taken place in the past few years.