Where The Underline Actually Starts and Stops This Fall

"A 10-mile-long party." That's how Underline founder Meg Daly described the celebration she has planned for when Miami's linear park under the Metrorail finally runs the full distance from the Miami River to Dadeland, according to the Miami Herald's coverage of the August opening.

That party hasn't happened yet. As of mid-October 2026, seven of the ten miles are finished and open. The missing three sit in the middle, through Coral Gables and along the University of Miami. So for now the trail behaves like two separate trails with different personalities. The northern run holds the classes, the markets and the dog park. The southern run holds the gardens, the micro-forests and a new playground. If you live along U.S. 1, your section decides which Underline you get this fall.

The Northern Run, From the River to LeJeune

The northern run is the older and busier one. Phase 1, the Brickell Backyard between the Miami River and SW 13th Street, opened on February 26, 2021. Phase 2, the 2.14-mile section from SW 13th Street to SW 19th Avenue, followed on April 24, 2024. Earlier this year a stretch through Coral Gables north of LeJeune Road opened as well, and the Herald reported in July that this piece "already connects all the way to the river."

Here are the named stops, roughly north to south:

• Hammock Trail, Hammock Playground and the Rain Garden, part of the 2024 phase.
• Brickell Backyard's Urban Gym, with a fenced flex court, mini-pitch soccer, body-weight equipment, a running track and artwork by Bony Ramirez.
• Inter Grove Gallery, the three-block stretch between SW 24th and 27th avenues that opened November 1, 2025. It has Alexandre Arrechea's eight-column mural "Milagros at the Temple of Abundance," a bocce court and space for markets and events. LnS Gallery has an entrance directly on it, and Daily Bread Marketplace sits nearby at 2400 SW 27th Ave.
• Chewy Bark Park in Coral Gables, which opened January 31, 2026. It has separate areas for large and small dogs, hydration and waste stations, and an agility course. It sits across from Trader Joe's and next to the Life Time building near LeJeune Road and Ponce de Leon Boulevard.

Along the whole corridor you'll also find bike racks, repair stations, Wi-Fi, lighting, water fountains and dog-bag dispensers.

The Southern Run, From Red Road to Dadeland South

The southern run opened in pieces this summer. The Herald's July report covered a 1.2-mile stretch from the Dadeland South Metrorail station to SW 80th Street. Its August report on the formal ceremony, held Saturday, August 15, 2026, described a 1.17-mile segment from Dadeland to South Miami, reaching the edge of Coral Gables at Red Road. Together, those pieces make up the southern run that's open now.

This run has a different character. Its highlight is the Nikki Spoelstra Play Forest, a nature-themed playground with an outdoor reading room, musical instruments and covered seating for parents. Spoelstra donated $500,000 to sponsor it. Nearby are a butterfly garden called Mariposa Gardens, a village of Underline-green birdhouses, and micro-forests near the butterfly garden and just past SW 70th Avenue. Micro-forests are small, dense plantings of native trees and shrubs meant to grow quickly into habitat. This section also connects directly to the South Miami Hospital meditation garden, which had been locked until the trail next to it was finished.

For a coffee or a snack stop, the Herald reported that people using the trail have been visiting SOMI Bike Shop, next to the Underline bike repair stand at SW 80th Street, for service, gear, snacks and drinks.

Rough Edges Near the Stations

The southern run is new, and it shows in a few places. The Herald's July walkthrough flagged these:

1. Dadeland North. The old M-Path connection behind the station garage is closed during construction. Inside the station, a route is marked with green Underline circles, but signs tell cyclists to dismount and walk about a tenth of a mile.
2. Between the two Dadeland stations. This stretch is landscaped but mostly utilitarian because the corridor is narrow. The last bit before Dadeland South was unfinished and waiting on station construction, so users had to pass through a narrow fenced alley and a run of cones.
3. Kendall Drive and the SR 878 exit ramp. Crossings along the trail now have bright-green crosswalks, signage and, in some spots, no-right-on-red signals. Even so, Herald journalists saw many drivers at these two intersections failing to yield to people on the trail. Eulois Cleckley, CEO of Friends of The Underline, told the paper the group keeps working with county and state engineers to improve crossings as trouble spots show up.

The same report said the Douglas Road station on the northern run was also under renovation, and that trail connections through the stations under construction were "sketchy or missing altogether." We couldn't find a current detour notice for crossing the unfinished Coral Gables gap, so plan that leg as a separate trip.

Why the Middle Matters Beyond the Ribbon-Cutting

The Coral Gables segment won't just fill in the trail. It's where some of The Underline's most elaborate features are going. Daly told the Herald the section will include four pickleball courts, full- and half-court basketball, an outdoor gym, a micro-forest, gathering plazas, public art and free cultural and educational programs. The county and Friends of The Underline have said it will be done by the end of 2026. As of today, no specific opening date or date for the 10-mile celebration has been announced.

The middle also raised the question of who pays to keep the whole trail running. The Herald reported in September that The Underline Conservancy asked Coral Gables for $4.49 million over five years toward operations and maintenance. Annual costs for the full trail are expected to reach about $9.5 million once it's complete. Miami-Dade's own operating support drops each year, from $1.8 million this year to $1.5 million next year, then $973,000, with no guarantee after that. South Miami and the City of Miami agreed last year to multi-year funding.

On September 29, 2026, the Coral Gables City Commission adopted an item on an initial funding commitment and next steps toward an agreement with the Conservancy. At that night's budget hearing, commissioners approved $500,000 for the first year. That's a first-year amount, set against the $4.49 million five-year request.

The Fall Calendar Runs North

The clearest sign that these are two trails right now is the free programming. Every class on the official Underline events calendar from now through December that has a listed location is on the northern run, at Inter Stage in Inter Grove Gallery, Vizcaya Station Plaza, Hammock Playground or Chewy Bark Park.

The Chewy Pack Walk lists Paw Patrol as its rescue partner. Today, October 10, the calendar lists The Underline Market at Inter Stage, a Levitt BLOC Miami Free Concert Series date, and a planting at the South Florida Ethnobotanical Community Garden. The calendar also lists Roll Skate Club on November 3, the Moms on the Move Walking Group on November 21 and December 12, and Day in the Dirt on December 5. Day in the Dirt is a volunteer morning of planting and maintenance led by The Underline's horticulture team.

For South Miami and Dadeland, the play forest, the butterfly garden and the hospital meditation garden are there to use on your own schedule. For a weekday evening class, the nearest one is north of LeJeune Road, at least until the Coral Gables stretch opens and its pickleball courts and outdoor gym come online.

Trail access is one of the first things people ask about when they're comparing streets along U.S. 1, and we keep up with which segments are open and which station connections are still under construction. If you're weighing a home near The Underline in Miami, Michelle Nelson can walk you through what's open now and what's coming near the addresses on your list. Schedule your free consultation.