How Much Gravel Do I Need? Coverage Chart

Short answer: how much gravel do I need for a typical project? A 10x10 patio base at 4 inches deep takes 1.23 cubic yards, which is about 1.7 tons. Most garden paths need under a yard, most patio bases 1 to 2 yards, and a new gravel driveway 10 to 20 yards across its layers. The formula behind every one of those numbers: length x width x depth, divided by 27 for cubic yards, then times 1.4 for tons. Below you’ll find that math worked step by step, coverage charts for both yards and tons, depth guidance by project, and the bag-versus-bulk price math nobody puts in one place.

Want the answer without the arithmetic? The gravel estimator takes your dimensions and returns cubic yards, tons, and a waste allowance in seconds.

How much gravel do I need for common projects?

Here’s the lookup chart before the formula. Depths follow standard practice for each job, volumes are raw, and tons use the 1.4 conversion for common crushed gravel. Add 10 percent when you order, for settling and low spots.

Project	Depth	Cubic yards	Tons
Garden path, 3x20 ft	3 in	0.56	0.8
French drain, 25 ft trench (1 ft wide, 1 ft deep)	12 in	0.93	1.3
Patio base, 10x10 ft	4 in	1.23	1.7
Pea gravel seating area, 12x12 ft	3 in	1.33	1.9
Driveway top-up, single car (12x25 ft)	2 in	1.85	2.6
Driveway top-up, two car (20x25 ft)	2 in	3.09	4.3
Play area, 15x15 ft	9 in	6.25	8.7
New driveway, single car (12x25 ft, 3 layers)	12 in	11.1	15.6
New driveway, two car (20x25 ft, 3 layers)	12 in	18.5	25.9

Two patterns worth noticing. First, depth drives the number as hard as footprint does: the same 12x25 driveway needs 1.85 yards as a refresh but 11 yards as a new build. Second, anything past 2 or 3 yards moves you out of bag territory and into a bulk delivery, and the bags-versus-bulk section below shows exactly where that line sits.

How do you calculate gravel in cubic yards?

Multiply length by width by depth to get cubic feet, then divide by 27. The one trap is units: depth must be in feet, so divide the inches by 12 first. Here’s the full method on a 10x10 patio base at 4 inches:

Step 1: convert depth to feet. 4 inches / 12 = 0.333 feet.

Step 2: multiply the three dimensions. 10 x 10 x 0.333 = 33.3 cubic feet. For an L-shaped or irregular area, split it into rectangles and add them, or let the square footage tool total the area first.

Step 3: divide by 27. A cubic yard holds 27 cubic feet, so 33.3 / 27 = 1.23 cubic yards.

Step 4: add 10 percent. 1.23 x 1.1 = 1.36 cubic yards. Order 1.5 and you’re covered.

There’s a shortcut for 3-inch coverage, the most common decorative depth: divide your square footage by 108, because one cubic yard spread 3 inches thick covers exactly 108 square feet. A 540 square foot side yard? 540 / 108 = 5 yards flat. For 4-inch base layers the divisor is 81, the same number that runs concrete slab math, which is why the two materials often get estimated together on the same job. If a slab is part of your project, the concrete guide walks that side of it.

How many tons of gravel do I need?

Multiply cubic yards by 1.4 and you have tons for common crushed gravel. Suppliers sell by weight as often as by volume, so you’ll usually need both numbers. The full conversion depends on the material’s density:

Material	Tons per cubic yard	Cubic yards per ton
Pea gravel	1.4	0.71
Crushed stone (#57, clean)	1.4	0.71
River rock	1.3 to 1.4	0.71 to 0.77
Crusher run (with fines)	1.55 to 1.7	0.59 to 0.65
Decomposed granite	1.6	0.63
Sand (for comparison)	1.3 to 1.5	0.67 to 0.77

The 10x10 patio base from the formula section works out to 1.23 yards x 1.4 = 1.72 tons. If you switched that base to crusher run, the same volume weighs 1.23 x 1.6 = about 2 tons, and you’d order accordingly.

Density is also why quotes can confuse. A yard of pea gravel and a yard of crusher run fill the same hole, but the crusher run costs more per load because the truck is hauling an extra 500 pounds per yard. When you compare supplier prices, make sure both quotes use the same unit, and when in doubt order by volume, since the hole you’re filling doesn’t care what the stone weighs.

How much does a yard or ton of gravel cover?

One cubic yard covers 108 square feet at 3 inches deep; one ton covers about 77. Here’s the full chart with both units side by side, which saves you from converting mid-order:

Depth	1 cubic yard covers	1 ton covers
2 in	162 sq ft	116 sq ft
3 in	108 sq ft	77 sq ft
4 in	81 sq ft	58 sq ft
6 in	54 sq ft	39 sq ft

The yard column is pure geometry: 27 cubic feet divided by the depth in feet. The ton column applies the 1.4 density, so a ton is 19.3 cubic feet doing the same division. For heavier material like crusher run, trim the ton column by about 10 percent.

Work the chart backwards to sanity-check a delivery. If a supplier says their 5-ton load will handle your 500 square foot parking pad at 4 inches, the chart says 5 tons covers 5 x 58 = 290 square feet at that depth. You’d be nearly half short, and it’s a lot cheaper to catch that on paper than after the truck leaves.

How deep should gravel be?

Two to 3 inches handles decorative ground cover, 4 inches handles bases and walkways that carry weight, and driveways want three compacted layers totaling 10 to 12 inches. Depth is the most expensive variable in the formula, so match it to the job:

Project	Depth	Notes
Decorative beds, ground cover	2 to 3 in	Over landscape fabric
Garden path	3 in	4 in where wheelbarrows roll
Patio or shed base	4 in	Compacted before pavers or slab
Play area	9 to 12 in	Impact-absorbing depth for fall safety
French drain	Fill trench	Clean stone only, no fines
Driveway (new)	10 to 12 in total	Three layers, compacted each lift
Driveway (top-up)	2 in	Every 2 to 4 years of use

The driveway build deserves the extra detail, since it’s where most big orders go wrong. A gravel driveway that lasts is three different stones: a base layer of fist-sized #3 stone (4 inches), a middle layer of golf-ball #57 (4 inches), and a top layer of crusher run or pea-sized stone (2 to 4 inches) that locks together under traffic. Each layer gets compacted before the next goes down. Ordering one big load of a single stone size is cheaper on paper and turns into ruts and washouts by the second winter.

Compaction is the quiet volume-eater. Crusher run and other stone with fines settles 10 to 15 percent once rolled or driven on, so a 4-inch compacted layer starts life as roughly 4.5 loose inches. That’s on top of the 10 percent waste allowance, which is why driveway crews order closer to 25 percent over the raw math for base layers, then keep the extra for the first top-up.

What type of gravel should you use?

Pea gravel for looks and comfort underfoot, #57 crushed stone for drainage and bases, crusher run for anything that needs to lock solid. Here’s the master table with density, real-world coverage, and typical 2026 bulk prices in one place:

Type	Tons per yd	1 ton covers at 3 in	Typical 2026 price per ton	Best for
Pea gravel	1.4	77 sq ft	$45 to $180	Paths, seating areas, dog runs
Crushed stone #57	1.4	77 sq ft	$40 to $65	Drainage, driveway middle layer, bases
Crusher run	1.55 to 1.7	65 to 70 sq ft	$20 to $40	Driveway top layer, compacted bases
River rock	1.3 to 1.4	77 to 83 sq ft	$50 to $160	Beds, borders, dry creek features
Decomposed granite	1.6	68 sq ft	$40 to $100	Paths, patios, xeriscape
Crushed granite	1.4 to 1.5	72 to 77 sq ft	$25 to $50	Driveways, modern landscaping

Prices swing hard with region and haul distance, since stone is cheap and trucking isn’t. A quarry 10 miles away often beats a big-box store’s bulk price by half, so call two or three local suppliers before you order. Decorative stone (river rock, polished pebbles) carries the widest markups; structural stone (crusher run, #57) is the commodity end.

One material note that affects quantity: French drains and any drainage work need clean stone, meaning washed #57 or similar with no fines. Crusher run’s fine particles are exactly what makes it compact beautifully on a driveway, and exactly what clogs a drain. If your project mixes soil work with stone, the topsoil estimator handles the dirt side with the same yard math.

Should you buy bags or bulk gravel?

Bags win under half a cubic yard, bulk wins above it, and the gap gets absurd fast. A yard of gravel is 54 bags of the standard 0.5 cubic foot size. Here’s the decision table at typical 2026 prices:

Project size	Bagged cost (0.5 cu ft bags)	Bulk cost (delivered)	Better buy
Small bed, under 0.25 yd	$55 to $110 (up to 14 bags)	Not practical	Bags
0.25 to 0.5 yd	$110 to $215	$85 to $180 with fee	Toss-up, lean bags
0.5 to 1 yd	$215 to $430	$85 to $210 with fee	Bulk
1 to 5 yd	$430 to $2,150	$150 to $600	Bulk
5+ yd (driveway)	Not practical	$35 to $80 per ton	Bulk

The line item to watch is the delivery fee, usually $50 to $100 within a supplier’s normal radius. It makes small bulk orders look expensive, but even a 1-yard delivery at $200 beats hauling 54 bags at $300-plus, and that’s before you count the 27 trips from the car. Many suppliers also waive or shrink the fee past 3 to 5 tons, which quietly rewards ordering your whole project at once instead of layer by layer.

If you have a pickup or trailer, there’s a middle path: most quarries load half-yard and full-yard scoops directly into your bed for the bare material price. A half ton of gravel sits fine in a standard half-ton pickup; a full yard (2,800 lbs) does not, so split the trips or borrow a trailer.

Common mistakes when estimating gravel

The formula is simple, so shortages almost always come from the inputs. Four mistakes cause most of them:

Leaving depth in inches. Multiplying 10 x 10 x 3 gives 300, and 300 / 27 is 11 yards, which is a twelvefold over-order for what should be a 0.93-yard job. Inches divided by 12 first, every time.

Ignoring compaction. The 10 percent waste rule covers spillage and uneven ground, but stone with fines loses another 10 to 15 percent of its height to compaction. Base layers need both allowances, or the “4-inch” base ends up at 3 inches and change.

Ordering one stone for a layered job. A driveway is three stone sizes doing three jobs. Pricing the whole depth in cheap crusher run reads fine on the quote and fails in the field, since there’s no large-stone base carrying the load.

Skipping the fabric. Gravel on bare dirt migrates downward every wet season, and homeowners re-order a “mystery yard” every couple of years to replace it. A roll of landscape fabric costs less than the gravel it saves by the second summer.

Get the volume right, convert to tons with the right density, and buy 10 percent over (25 percent for compacted bases). Do that and the gravel part of any project is arithmetic. Punch your dimensions in, round up to the half yard, and order once.