Lowman Beach Park, West Seattle

Lowman Beach Park has one of the first swings I came across when I first moved to Seattle for college way back when. Tucked away along Beach Drive, just after the uphill turnoff for Lincoln Park, this park is also connected to Lincoln Park (and my favorite swinging experience) and Alki via the bike/trail route that encircles West Seattle.

Location: 7017 Beach Dr. SW
Number of swings: 1 regular, 1 baby
Ground material: Wood chips
Chain length: Short.


Yet another amazing place in Seattle to swing and watch the sunset. And water. I always find myself called towards waters wherever I am. The chain on this single regular swing is short, although quite high off the ground, allowing my super-long legs to dangle. Not the most invigorating swinging experience, but a nice place to sit and peer out to the shore.


I caught the sunset on this day. It was glorious. I also found the adjacent trees inviting.

How to get there: Bus route #37 stops along Beach Dr., right next to the park.

Lincoln Park (lower playground), West Seattle

This post is about (the lower playground of) Lincoln Park in West Seattle. (The street-level "upper playgrounds" are in another post.)

THESE ARE THE BEST SWINGS IN SEATTLE. Ok, not the best swings, but the best SWINGING EXPERIENCE. And I believe one would have quite the challenge finding someone who disagrees. If you disagree, you are wrong.

Location: Lincoln Park, which spans a portion of Fauntleroy Way SW in West Seattle.
Number of swings: 3 regular, 1 baby bucket.
Ground material: Wood chips.
Chain length: Medium


Seriously. Look at that. You can swing and watch the ferries come in and out on their way to Vashon and Southworth. Sniff that Puget Sound air. Go ahead, take a stroll next to the water when you're done swinging. These swings have always played a very important part in my love affair with Seattle. They aren't the best swings, but they are standard good swings, and there is no other place you can have that view while swinging in Seattle.

I love this place.

How to get there: Bus route #54 stops along Fauntleroy Way SW.

Lincoln Park (upper playgrounds), West Seattle

This post is about (the upper playgrounds of) Lincoln Park in West Seattle.

An introduction to Lincoln Park: it is huge; it is massive. It is synonym after synonym for big. It has 3 play areas: 2 occupy the higher/street level elevations of the park, in the extreme north and south. A third (and special) playground is at the south end of the park along the shore, and it will be featured in a separate post.

Location: Lincoln Park, which spans a portion of Fauntleroy Way SW in West Seattle.
Number of swings: The southern play area has 4 regular swings, 2 baby buckets. The northern play area contains only baby swings, 3 of the bucket type and 1 baby seat.)
Ground material: Wood chips in southern play area, Rubbery squares in the northern.
Chain length: Medium


These swings in the southern play area are great. The play area is nestled in the trees, and you can catch glimpses of sky and water behind the thin forest veil. The swings are comfortable, and the ride is smooth. These are very standard good swings, but to be honest, I rarely spend time at these swings because of their AMAZING SWING NEIGHBORS AT THE SHORE.


There is also a [broken] zipline up here.


The isolated northern play area contains nothing but baby swings. Oh the joy.

How to get there: Bus route #54 stops along Fauntleroy Way SW.

Hiawatha Park, West Seattle/Admiral

Hiawatha Park, West Seattle/Admiral

I was very happy to have stumbled upon this park. It looks like they're doing a bunch of construction at the playfield, so maybe whatever sports teams play/practice there will have a pretty new home soon.

Location: California Ave SW & SW Lander St, Admiral area of West Seattle
Number of swings: 5 regular, 1 baby seat. 2 baby buckets.
Ground material: Wood chips
Chain length: Long



I met a fellow swinger here! I sat on a swing next to another guy who looked about my age/mid-twenties. Upon sitting, he exclaimed, "I LOVE SWINGING!" And I agreed with him. We had a wonderful conversation of "The Joy" of swinging as we reached great heights with these long swings. It's always nice to meet like-minded individuals. He apparently likes to play Spiderman while swinging, so I got an awkward-though-entertaining show as I got my swing on.



The baby swings are pretty standard. Overall this park is nice, and I'm sure it will be even nicer when the construction ends. As I've noted in previous posts, I'm always a huge fan of swingsets with more than 4 (in this case, 5!) swings in a row.

How to get there: Bus routes #55, 85, 128 stop along California Ave SW in both directions. Routes #56 and 57 stop along Admiral Way (1 block north), and they provide excellent service to and from downtown Seattle, if you feel like making the trek way out to West Seattle.

Favo(u)rite Swings

This is a new blog, but my swinging activities in Seattle are not new. Rather than post every great swing in one day, I plan to try and not update all at once. It keeps it fun to have a little something to look forward to.

But, that means a lot of GREAT SWINGS will go unmentioned until a proper post is made!

So here are a few of my favorite swings:

---Lincoln Park, West Seattle. The swings on the south end that peer over to the Fauntleroy-Vashon Ferry. Go in the evening if you want to avoid crowds of children competing for what I like to call "the joy."
---Ober Park, Vashon Island. Best swings I have ever found in... um... life?
---Gilman Playground, Ballard. These 2 swings used to have 1 rubber seat and 1 hard plastic seat, and it was the best of both worlds. They're both flexible now, but still provide an awesome swinging experience.

OK enough spilled secrets.
Happy swinging!


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EDIT: Recent inspection of swings at Gilman Playground has revealed a change in swing seat architecture, and statements have been revised accordingly (09/20/09)