How Much Gravel Do I Need? Calculator & Coverage Guide
Gravel is sold by the cubic yard, and the question we hear before almost every order is some version of “how many yards do I need?” The math is simple once you’ve seen it done. Here’s how we walk customers through it – whether you’re graveling a driveway, a path, a patio, or a drainage trench.
The gravel formula: square feet to cubic yards
One cubic yard is 27 cubic feet. Measure your area in square feet, pick your depth in inches, and run this calculation:
That’s the whole calculation. A 12-by-40-foot driveway (480 square feet) at 4 inches deep works out to 480 × 4 ÷ 324 ≈ 6 cubic yards. Don’t feel like doing math? Our material yardage calculator does it for you – it works for gravel, rock, sand, and topsoil.
Skip the math
Get your cubic-yard total in seconds
Enter your length, width, and depth – the calculator does the rest. Works for gravel, crushed rock, sand, bark, and topsoil.
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Quick reference: what one cubic yard of gravel covers
| Depth | One cubic yard covers | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| 2 inches | About 162 sq ft | Decorative top-ups, refreshing beds |
| 3 inches | About 108 sq ft | Paths, patios, decorative beds |
| 4 inches | About 81 sq ft | Driveway surfacing, parking areas |
| 6 inches | About 54 sq ft | New driveway base, soft-ground stabilization |
How deep should gravel be?
Depth depends on the job. For decorative beds and borders, 2 to 3 inches of pea gravel or river rock over landscape fabric does it. Walking paths want 2 to 3 inches of surface gravel over a compacted base. A gravel driveway is really two layers: a 4-to-6-inch compacted base of larger crushed rock, topped with 2 to 3 inches of ⅝″ minus crushed gravel that locks together under traffic. For French drains and drainage trenches, plan on filling the trench around the pipe with 1½″ drain rock.
Not sure which gravel the project calls for in the first place? Our gravel size guide covers that side of the decision, and if your project is specifically a pea gravel patio or path, our pea gravel project guide gets into costs and coverage for that material.
A worked example: the driveway
Say your driveway is 12 feet wide and 40 feet long. A new build needs the full two-layer treatment; here is the math, line by line:
The area: 12 ft × 40 ft = 480 sq ft
Base layer (4″ of 1¼″ minus): 480 × 4 ÷ 324 ≈ 6 cubic yards
Surface layer (2½″ of ⅝″ minus): 480 × 2.5 ÷ 324 ≈ 3.7 — round up to 4 cubic yards
Just refreshing an existing driveway? Skip the base — you only need the 4-yard surface lift.
Cubic yards vs. tons
Gravel is heavy. Figure roughly 1.4 to 1.5 tons per cubic yard, depending on the product and how wet it is. A half-ton pickup maxes out well under a single yard, which is why most people have gravel delivered instead of hauling it a few hundred pounds at a time.
Pro tip
Order 10% extra for any “minus” product (⅝″ minus, 1¼″ minus). Those products are designed to compact – that’s what makes them great driveway material – so a delivered yard settles into less than a yard of finished surface. Rounding up beats a second delivery charge every time.
Common questions
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Driveway gravel, crushed rock, pea gravel, and drain rock, delivered across Seattle, Bellevue & Snohomish County for 60+ years.