How to use it
- Measure your walkway length in feet.
- Measure the walkway width in feet.
- Enter your planned gravel depth in inches.
- View your required cubic feet, cubic yards, and estimated tons.
Ordering gravel by guesswork leads to two expensive mistakes: paying for a second dump-truck delivery fee or being stuck with an ugly pile of crushed stone in your driveway. This calculator eliminates the guesswork. Enter your path's length, width, and depth to instantly get exact cubic feet, cubic yards, and approximate tonnage.
Suppliers sell bulk gravel in two ways: by the cubic yard or by weight in tons. This tool converts your walkway volume into both units, factoring in a standard density of 1.4 US tons per cubic yard. When you call your local quarry or landscape yard, you will know the precise order size to request. Knowing both numbers prevents supplier miscommunication, keeps your project on budget, and ensures you lay down a uniform, durable walkway surface on the first pass.
Pro tips
- Add 10% extra to your total volume to account for ground settling, compaction, and edge spillage.
- Always round up to the nearest half-yard or half-ton, as bulk landscape yards rarely sell smaller fractions.
- Aim for a depth of 2 to 3 inches for footpaths; deeper gravel shifts excessively and makes walking difficult.
- Install sturdy landscape fabric and solid edge restraints before dumping stone to prevent aggregate sinkage into the soil.
Real-life examples
- Building a 40-foot pea gravel garden pathway from your patio to a fire pit.
- Refreshing an existing crushed granite walkway that washed out over winter.
- Budgeting aggregate materials for a client's front-yard xeriscaping project.
Case study
Marcus planned a 60-foot garden path and almost guessed two pickup loads. Instead, he entered 60 feet by 3 feet at 3 inches deep into the calculator. It showed he needed 45 cubic feet—equaling 1.67 cubic yards or 2.33 tons. He ordered 2.5 tons with delivery, covered the full path with zero shortages, and saved $180 on a second trip fee.