Right beside the Douglas Road Metrorail station there is a patch of sand under big shade umbrellas, sitting under the tracks. That's The Underline Plaza, and the trail's own team calls it the middle of the whole project. Lisle Bowen, The Underline's chief marketing officer, told Coral Gables Magazine why the plaza matters:

"This is actually considered the center point of the Underline. We are five miles from the Miami River and five miles from Dadeland."

Starting from Brickell, everything up to that halfway point is already built, and you can ride it without a break. The other half is close behind. In early October the Miami Herald reported that construction is expected to finish by December, years ahead of the original plan, helped by a large federal grant. That means this November is the last month the trail stops short of Dadeland.

The free classes, the market and the meetups on the trail's calendar are clustered at the north end, within a short walk of Brickell. What December adds for Brickell residents is a longer ride: south to the University of Miami, South Miami and Dadeland, then back home to the same weekly routine.

The Weekly Calendar Is Still Built Around Brickell

Look at The Underline's events calendar for the first week of November 2026 and nearly every recurring program sits on the first few miles from the river. Inter Stage hosts most of them. The trail's map puts it at SW 8th Street and SW 1st Avenue, on the Promenade between SW 8th and SW 10th streets. The market listing gives the address as 805 SW 1st Avenue and tells visitors to look for it on SW 1st just past the SW 9th Street crosswalk.

On publication day, Thursday, Nov. 5, the yoga class at Vizcaya Station Plaza runs from 7 to 8 p.m. The skate club already met on Nov. 3, so its next first Tuesday is Dec. 1. The Pilates listing has one glitch: its event page labels the class as Inter Stage, but the directions on the same page send people to Vizcaya Station Plaza. Go by the Brickell address. The market's Saturday listings also change from week to week. On Oct. 31 the calendar showed a full-day market alongside a separate noon-to-3 p.m. session with live music. Check the calendar before you head out.

Five Miles You Can Ride Today, From the River South

The stretch from the Miami River to Douglas Road was built in segments over five years. Riding south, here is what you pass, section by section:

1. Brickell Backyard, Miami River to SW 13th Street. This half-mile opened in February 2021. It has the River Room by the water, the Urban Gym with fitness equipment and a flex court, the Promenade with its sound stage and seating, and the Oolite Room with four butterfly gardens.
2. SW 13th Street to SW 19th Avenue. This 2.14-mile link opened April 24, 2024 and connects Brickell with The Roads, Shenandoah and Silver Bluff. Along the way are the Simpson Park Playground Area, Vizcaya Station Plaza, 17th Avenue Plaza and a bike-repair station at Vizcaya, according to Miami-Dade County.
3. Inter Grove Gallery, SW 24th to SW 27th avenues. This segment opened Nov. 1, 2025. It has a bocce court, a bike-share station, green seating and the "Milagros at the Temple of Abundance" mural, which wraps eight Metrorail columns, as Coconut Grove Spotlight reported.
4. Segment 4, SW 27th Avenue to Douglas Road. This nearly one-mile stretch, between 27th and 37th avenues, opened in May 2026. With it, the trail reached five continuous miles in the fifth year since the first section opened.
5. The Underline Plaza, at Ruiz Avenue and SW 37th Court. This is the urban beach. Bahamian artist April Bey has painted murals on two of its columns, and the plan is to bring in food trucks and events.

Every program in the table above takes place on sections one through three. The farthest one from the river is the skate club at Inter Grove Gallery, around SW 24th to 27th avenues. Past that point the trail has amenities but almost nothing scheduled yet.

What December Finishes, and What's Already Open Farther South

The southern half is open in some places and still under construction in others. The Miami Herald reported in July that the southernmost 1.2 miles, from Dadeland South station to SW 80th Street, were open, and that the next section north, through South Miami to the edge of Coral Gables, was nearly finished and already in use. The open southern stretch includes Mariposa Gardens, which sits between SW 67th Avenue and SW 80th Street on the trail map. The Nikki Spoelstra Play Forest opened Aug. 15 next to South Miami City Hall at 6130 Sunset Drive. It has climbing and balance features, musical chimes and a sensory trail right beside the path.

The work that's left is in Coral Gables. According to Coral Gables Magazine, four of the six community spaces planned for the Gables section were complete as of early September, and three of those were open for use. The Underline Plaza at Douglas Road is one of the finished six. Here is where the other five stood in that report:

• Chewy Bark Park, 4500 Ponce de Leon Blvd. Open since Jan. 31, 2026. It has separate areas for small and large dogs, cooling turf and agility features.
• The Wilds, Ponce de Leon Blvd. near Orduna Drive. Complete. It's planted with native Everglades wetland species and has stormwater bioswales, boardwalks and shaded rest areas.
• The Fitness Room, Ponce de Leon Blvd. near Riviera Drive. Built but not yet open for use. Plans call for body-weight equipment, a stretching area, a half basketball court and a mini soccer pitch.
• PineLand Courts, Ponce de Leon near Carrillo Street. Under construction. Sponsored by Baptist Health, it will have four public pickleball courts and a regulation basketball court.
• Rock Ridge Plaza, Ponce de Leon at Stanford Drive. Under construction. It's a block long, with an outdoor amphitheater and classroom using natural boulder seating, a shaded gathering space and a plaza for performances.

The two projects still under construction are the ones near the University of Miami, so that area by campus is the last piece of the trail to be finished. No public celebration or specific opening date for the full ten miles had been announced as of late October. The schedule only says the end of the year. Until then, the realistic plan for a long ride from Brickell is to go as far as the beach at Douglas Road, then pick up the southern pieces at South Miami or Dadeland separately.

The Brickell Calendar Depends on Sponsors and City Budgets

The free classes at the north end come with sponsor names attached. The yoga at Vizcaya Station Plaza is "powered by Baptist Health," and the skate club is billed the same way. That sponsorship is part of a bigger funding question that arrives along with the finished trail.

The Miami Herald reported that the full ten miles are expected to cost about $9.5 million a year to operate. Friends of The Underline aims to raise 60 percent of next year's operating costs from private donors and sponsors. Miami-Dade County has agreed to several million dollars a year for three years, with the amount shrinking each year and nothing promised after that. In late September, Coral Gables commissioners voted to move $500,000 meant for city projects into Underline operations for fiscal year 2027. That's half of the $1 million The Underline asked for, and it came with a seat on the Conservancy board. The city is also paying the $180,000 requested for fiscal 2026. The Herald reported that the City of Miami and South Miami are contributing too. Together, the three cities' share is about 30 percent of the cost of running, programming and maintaining the trail.

When the Gables deal was struck, the city had already agreed to it but had not yet signed it. Under its terms, Underline leaders and the city will meet every year to negotiate funding. In practice, the free yoga and Pilates at the Brickell end now depend on a mix of sponsor money, a county commitment that tapers off, and annual votes in three city halls.

The Underline is also changing what it's like to live near Miami's Metrorail line. If you own a home within walking distance of Inter Stage, Vizcaya Station Plaza or Inter Grove Gallery and want to know how the finished trail might affect its value, The Bespoke Group can prepare a valuation that factors in the trail and the neighborhood around it. Request your home valuation to get started.