I am planning on building a backyard play gym for my children this spring, and I am looking at the pros and cons of the various wood choices.

As near as I can determine, I have two choices western red cedar or pressure treated pine. A few high end play sets that I have looked at utilize northern white cedar, but I can not find a local supplier of this material.

I have four young children so I anticipate this structure to be heavily utilized for at least 10 years – so I am willing to spend the money on the lumber if there is a good rationale for using one over the other.

So the questions…
Is red cedar a good choice from a structural point of view?
Is one better than the other with regards to splintering?
If I use pressure treated lumber do I have to worry about the wood twisting as it drys out?
Should/Can I stain the pressure treated, and if I do so does the stain need to be reapplied on a regular basis.

Last question – does anybody know of a good resource that gives construction details/advice for this type of construction?