The Swing Trail

Swings and play

A dozen big swings on one painted line. Each is a small room of sky.

This is a proposal. It is an idea for Sheboygan, not a city plan or a decision.

Concept art: a very large circular rope nest swing hanging from a purple arch on a lakefront promenade at sunset, with two adults seated in it. — Concept art. This is a proposal, not a plan.

Grown-ups play on big swings and in play-scale parks. A swing you can take for ten seconds, because you can.

One painted line down the promenade, through all seven stops, ending at the Vollrath rim.

Review note for Mike (remove before publishing)

Swings and play are framed as adult, all-ages joy. No child appears in any image or sentence here, and nothing is aimed at children. The older sources do mention a children’s playground and a children’s museum swing; those lines were left out. Swing #1 (SW01) is still named for the Purple Octopus site, which belongs to a children’s museum, and SW12 sits at the EBCO Yard, which is private property. Please decide whether to keep both. The octopus-tentacle swing renders (v2) were not used because they echo that playground’s design.

Take one for ten seconds

Concept art: three large nest swings on arched frames at a sandy beach in daylight, with the lighthouse on the breakwater in the distance. — Concept art. This is a proposal, not a plan.

Concept art: two large arched swing frames lit with blue and orange light at dusk on a lakefront walkway, with the lighthouse glowing beyond. — Concept art. This is a proposal, not a plan.

Concept art: a nest swing under a purple and yellow arch on a snowy lakefront, three adults in winter clothes seated in it. — Concept art. This is a proposal, not a plan.

Take a swing on the Swing Trail for ten seconds, because you can.

Twelve swings

Purple Octopus (first swing)
Stepping-Stone Park
Arts Center lawn
Basin dock
South Gate / Armory Garden edge
Deland, facing the red light
North Beach
North Point tip
Vollrath rim, facing the lake
Geode lawn
South Pier tip
Foundry courtyard

The list follows the one-city master plan draft (Oct 4, 2026). Earlier Futurist files list the twelve slightly differently, so the final list is still to be confirmed.

Play, grown-up size

A small open adult play yard with big swings, balance logs and a climbing wall, so grownups have a place too.

Concept art: large wooden bench-glider swings on brightly colored frames beside a beach, used by couples and a person in a wheelchair. — Concept art. This is a proposal, not a plan.

Concept art: an adult swing court with bench-gliders and a fitness corner with pull-up bars and rings, on a painted ground. — Concept art. This is a proposal, not a plan.

Concept art: an adult seated on a large wooden swing facing the water on a lakefront promenade at dusk, a glass bus shelter further along. — Concept art. This is a proposal, not a plan.

The art for the Swing Trail is made at the Makers' Foundry, a few miles from where it stands.

Does it work?

Safety is part of the design: a clear fall zone about twice the pivot height all around, and footings below frost.