Walkway Gravel: A 3/8 Inch Path Stone That Stays Put

The job this stone gets ordered for most is the worn strip of grass between a back door and a shed, a gate or a garden bed. In the rainy southeast and the wet northwest that strip is mud for half the year. In frost country it is the piece of ground that thaws last and stays soft longest. In the dry southwest it is dust that walks into the house. Walkway gravel is a 3/8 inch crushed stone, small enough to be comfortable underfoot and angular enough to knit together, and the questions below are the ones buyers ask in roughly this order.

Does walkway gravel feel right underfoot, or like walking on marbles?

Size is the whole reason this product exists separately from a drive stone. At 3/8 inch the pieces are small enough that a foot lands on many of them at once rather than rolling on a few, so the surface feels firm instead of shifting. Because it is crushed rather than rounded, the faces are flat and angular and they lock against each other, which is what keeps a path from spreading.

It is still loose stone. Heels sink into it, and a wheelchair or a loaded garden cart wants something compacted instead. For a path that has to carry wheels, a bedding of Stone Screenings compacted flat under a thin cover of this stone is the usual answer.

Can it go straight over grass, or does the sod have to come out?

Take the sod out. Grass laid over will rot, settle unevenly and send shoots up through the gaps by midsummer, and the path ends up lower in the middle than at the sides. Strip 3 to 4 inches, lay a woven separation fabric, then bring the stone back to slightly above the surrounding grade so water sheds off rather than collecting in a trench.

The fabric matters more on soft or organic ground than anywhere else, because without it a thin stone layer quietly disappears into the soil over two or three seasons.

What keeps it out of the lawn on a slope or a curve?

Edging. A path without an edge loses stone sideways every time someone walks it, and on any noticeable grade rain moves the lot downhill and leaves the top bare. Steel, aluminum, timber or a soldier course of brick all work; what matters is that the edge stands slightly proud of the finished stone.

On a slope steeper than roughly one in ten, break the run with a step or two, or set shallow cross-timbers to hold the material in terraces. A pond or shoreline edge is a version of the same problem: keep the stone above the line the water reaches, because anything in the wash zone wants a heavier size such as #4 Crushed Stone or RipRap underneath it to stay put.

Is this the stone that goes under a paver patio?

No, and this is the most common ordering mistake on the page. A paver patio wants a compacted base with fines in it, usually Crusher Run, and then a thin screeded bedding layer. This stone is a surface material, not a bedding or base material. It sits beautifully as the loose gravel around a patio, between flagstones or as the border strip where hardscape meets planting, but pavers set directly on it will rock.

The same goes for a construction entrance. A tracking pad at a site gate has to hold a loaded truck and shed mud off tires, which calls for a large angular stone, not a 3/8 inch path size.

How many tons for a 60 foot path and a 9 by 12 landing?

Both examples are hypothetical. The site calculator figures walkway gravel at about 2,800 lb per cubic yard, or 1.40 tons per yard.

Garden path. 60 feet long, 3 feet wide, 2 inches deep: 60 x 3 = 180 square feet. 180 x 2 / 12 = 30 cubic feet. 30 / 27 = 1.11 cubic yards. 1.11 x 1.40 = about 1.6 tons.

Landing outside a gate. 9 by 12 feet at 3 inches: 9 x 12 = 108 square feet. 108 x 3 / 12 = 27 cubic feet, which is exactly 1 cubic yard, or about 1.4 tons.

A useful shortcut for paths: one cubic yard spread 2 inches deep covers about 162 square feet, and at 3 inches about 108 square feet. For winding runs, measure the path in two or three straight segments and add them in the gravel calculator, which accepts up to five areas.

Where can a pile sit that a wheelbarrow can still reach?

Choose the tonnage and the delivery date together on this page, and round up a little, since a path that finishes thin shows the fabric through. Delivery is arranged at checkout by ZIP code, so think about where a pile can sit close to the path without standing on a lawn you care about. Wheelbarrow access matters more than truck access for a job this size. If the run is irregular enough that you would rather have the numbers read back, send them through the contact page for a quote by email.