Your swing set takes up 10' x 13'2". Add 3' to those measurements and the play area becomes 13' x 16'2". In order to minimize the step down or step up to this area, it would obviously be better to have the longer edge parallel the drainage easement. This play area will need to be bounded by a retaining wall at the top and sides. A boundary along all sides would keep whatever mulch used in the play area from escaping.

The yard slopes around 6°. That is 1.27" of rise for every foot of run, meaning 13' removed from the slope would create a drop off of 16.5" at the top. This single excavation with the step (or jump) down on the top half would require fewer retaining wall blocks (or timber, if that feels safer) and less perforated drain pipe and gravel fill. The perforated pipe must extend along one side to empty near the drainage easement. All of the excavated soil would be removed to another area of the yard or off site.

Alternatively, one could excavate the soil from the top half of the area and use it to fill in the lower half of the area. This would require more materials to contain soil and deal with drainage, but would create less of a step up or down to the play area. Below are side view pictures of the construction.

There's nothing children love better than a huge drop-off, so don't rule that out so soon. :-)

Consider how long you'll want to keep this play set. Will you want to still have it when the kids are in high school or college? And when it's gone, will you want a sizable disfigurement of the lawn? Or, would you like it to look more or less like what it is now? If the latter, don't be too quick to spend a small fortune making permanent changes. The play set looks like it's for pretty young kids. Consider placing it such that the least amount of change to the yard is made.

Pretend for a moment that you're going to place the set in the yard without making any changes to the grade. Then, it will only be practical to orient the swings and slide in sync with the hill, facing downhill. Consider that both the swings and slide are adjustable ... the former by shortening or lengthening the chain supports and the latter, by altering the tilt. What's going to matter the most for leveling is only the rectangular base of the set, which is not that large. (Not as large as those dimensions given.) Since it's wood, you won't want to sink any of it below grade. You'll just want to build up the down hill end enough to make it work, which is probably only a few inches. I think you could do that by adding a "curb" to the downhill side and backfilling behind it. If the slide spill-out need raising it wouldn't be much so a small mound of soil feathered into the surrounding grade would take care of it. At worst, you might need to scoop out a little soil on the uphill side for the back-swing, but I doubt it. All of these adjustments seem like something someone could do in a couple of hours with a shovel, wheelbarrow and a timber or two. I think if you could just get the base in place and leveled, all the other adjustments would be obvious and easy to do.

I like MIndshift's Plan 2. But only if you want to create a large flat area permanently. After our kid outgrew her playset, we used the area as a sitting patio instead of converting it back to grass. Would that future use make sense for your yard?

Thank you for everyone's thoughts and insights. I like Yardvaark's idea - my husband actually mentioned this to me in passing & I forgot to include in the post. You guys are right - we probably don't want that large size of a permanent change to the backyard - and given how costly it would be as well.

1. Doing what Yardvaark suggests, can I still place the swing set in the same location within the backyard that I originally wanted? (with the slide facing down);

2. mindshift - are you able to make a diagram (super helpful by the way!) of what Yardvaark proposed?

I will upload a spec sheet with further details on the swing set showing better dimensions where the swing set actually touches the ground.

Haha ... what people love to do ... make diagrams of other people's ideas .... not!

In simple, conceptual form, it would be along these lines...

Not sure if this is helpful at this point - but found this - just shows the degree of sloping/grading. Probably does not change the proposed solution.

1. Yardvaark - wanted to make sure I understand - the "curb" you referred to is the U shaped red lines in the diagram which is essentially a border of wood and the swing set base would sit on top of this wood? I assume the U shaped red line wood border needs to be made level (by digging out a little dirt on the higher side of the yard)?

2. As simple as the proposed solution is (compared to the original idea), my husband & I for various reasons cannot do this ourselves. Do you know what type of contractor I should contact that can do the above and put the playset together at the same time? (don't think it can be done by 2 separate people at different times). (I don't know that landscape companies put together swing sets; landscape? handyman? etc)

3. What material can be placed under the swing set (definitely within the red U shaped lines - rectangular box and general area where the rockwall/ladder/slide touch the ground, behind the slide, etc)? (just thinking of alternatives to grass, having to mow in/around). Would I need anything to "contain" this material and if so, what?

4. I found this product on costco - a rubber border. Can this be used in my project or not a good idea/not applicable?

https://www.costco.com/64'-rubberific-timber-playground-borders.product.100047336.html

Thank you!

The U-shape foundation frame (red lines) is flush with grade at upper end and remains level such that grade is sloping away toward the lower end. If the upper end was sunk below grade (which is certainly possible and may be the better option ... one would need to study the facts and make a decision) the foundation frame would need to be a rectangle shape instead of a U-shape. It is essentially enabling a level shelf to extend for a few feet into the lower portion of the yard. The "shelf" surface, as well as the surrounding surface, would most likely be mulch. The U-shape curb would be what material you decide. It would most likely be wood.

It would be good to create a border around the whole play set that retains mulch. I don't know the Costco product and couldn't say whether it would be the ticket unless I was able to examine it in real life. The retention border and the mulch within it should be flush with the lawn, not raised above it. (The Costco product looks like it might be raised slightly, and that would be OK.)

Since it is a variety of small jobs, a handyman seems to me like the best person to do this project.

I can’t speak to the site for your playset except the we put ours in the back corner of our yard and landscaped around it to try to make it a feature not a eye sore seven years ago. Our site was unlevel but only by a few inches so it was built level and we moved dirt to the site to somewhat level the ground around the playset. We used rubber mulch under the playset adding a rubber mat under the swings and end of slide because the mulch gets kicked away in high use areas. We outlined our play area with stone block which doubles as a balance beam type of activity for the kids and contains the mulch. LOVE the rubber mulch!! We do get water back there when it rains, the rubber mulch does not float away, in the very back corner where we get more rain we have Pea gravel which the kids absolutely love playing in kind of like a sandbox. My playset gets daily use almost year round. The first picture is seven years ago the second picture was taken this morning we’ve had a lot of rain and everything has grown so it’s kind a hard to get a good picture.

Thank you Yardvaark for that reminder.

Another question - Would a playset with a more traditional A frame work better for my sloped backyard? Would it involve the same, more or less amount of "work" leveling it out? (how would it be done for this set up)? Would it be more stable? (such as the one below):

This one pictured (Cedar summit by kidkraft) has the following dimensions: overall: 122.4'' x 169.3'' x 119'' (vs the other playset I was looking at is 126'' x 162'').

The A frame dimensions: Deck (L X W) : 47.5” X 36”; Deck Height: 48”; The slide length is 84". Recommended safety zone of 336"L x 312"W. The dimensions of the playset without the swings is 79.3" L x 122.4" W x 119.3" H; The deck height is 48" from the ground; swing beam height of 87" from the ground The playset is anchored by rebar ground stakes which are driven 13”into ground.

"Leveling" it would be roughly the same. You might end up needing to build up a base of concrete (easy) for the lower/forward swing leg. It's not a good idea to bury any of the wood, as whether cedar or treated, some wood does not last that long. Keep it at/above the surface.

Honestly, I think that 13' x 16'2" is waaaay too much for a single swing, however it actually depends on the type of the swing. Taking into consideration the fact that this yard is not that big, I would go for a smaller swing, that would fit in perfectly in this kind of yard. Actually, the swing that I have in the backyard, was made by myself, it is done out of all the best materials, as I do not want any of my kids to fall down and fracture something. That is exactly why, I choose the best and the most reliable ropes from recommended by https://www.growgardener.com/best-rope-for-tree-swing/. I have made them 2 years ago, and they are still just like new.

Do you have pics of what you ended up doing?

@dpakalipse I believe they are still deliberating.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6247570/uphill-vs-downhill

Could not find anyone to install for me due to liability. Kids will have no swings in their backyard.

:(

Hi Kbear! Did you wind up finishing the project? would love to see how it came out since we are in a similar situation.