River Rock Near Me

Buying river rock locally

River rock is naturally rounded stone from river beds and glacial gravel deposits, washed and screened into size bands from 3/4 inch to 8 inches. It costs $40 to $100 per ton in 2026, weighs 1.35 to 1.6 tons per cubic yard, and is the go-to decorative stone for dry creek beds, garden beds, borders, and drainage swales where the rock needs to look good and stay put. It costs two to three times what crushed stone costs because it is sorted and washed, and because the supply is limited to places with river gravel. ## River Rock Sizes and Where Each One Fits - **3/4 to 1 inch.** Ground cover in beds, between pavers, and around foundations. Close to large pea gravel and just as prone to rolling. - **1 to 2 inch (egg rock).** The most popular size. Bed mulch, dry creek beds, drainage around downspouts, and borders. Big enough not to scatter, small enough to shovel. - **2 to 3 inch.** Dry creek beds and swales that move real water. Stays put in a heavy rain. - **3 to 5 inch.** Creek bed edges, accent stone, and erosion control on gentle slopes. - **5 to 8 inch cobbles.** Set by hand as creek bed banks, water feature edging, and retaining stone. ## What River Rock Is Used For - **Dry creek beds.** A shallow swale lined with fabric, filled with 1 to 3 inch rock, and edged with larger cobbles. Moves runoff and looks like a stream bed. The single most common river rock project. - **Garden beds and ground cover.** Two to 3 inches over fabric. Does not decompose like mulch, so it never needs replacing, but it does not feed the soil either. - **Downspout and drainage outlets.** A splash pad of 1 to 2 inch rock stops erosion where water hits the ground. - **Foundation perimeters.** Keeps soil from splashing on siding and discourages pests. - **Borders and edging.** Around trees, along walks, and against fences. - **Water features.** Pond edges, stream beds, and fountain basins. - **Xeriscape.** Rock instead of lawn in dry climates. ## How River Rock Behaves Rounded stone does not lock together, so river rock never packs. That makes it a poor path or driveway surface and a great drainage stone: water runs through it fast and it rarely clogs. Large sizes stay where you put them by weight alone. Small sizes (3/4 to 1 inch) roll around like pea gravel and need edging. River rock holds heat in full sun and can cook nearby plants in hot climates, and it makes weeding harder because you cannot hoe through it. Leaves and debris that fall into it are a pain to blow out. In exchange, it lasts forever and looks better with age. ## Installing River Rock Kill or remove weeds, grade the area, and lay a heavy landscape fabric; skipping the fabric means the rock sinks into the soil and weeds come up through it within a year. Spread 2 to 3 inches for ground cover. For a dry creek bed, dig a shallow channel 6 to 12 inches deep, line it with fabric, fill with 2 to 3 inch rock, and set 4 to 8 inch cobbles along the edges and in the bends. Larger rock is set by hand. River rock is heavy and awkward to shovel, so plan on a wheelbarrow and a strong back or a skid steer. ## What River Rock Costs Bulk river rock runs $40 to $100 per ton, or $45 to $120 per cubic yard. Sorted single-color rock (all white, all black, all gray) runs $100 to $250 per ton. One ton of 1 to 2 inch rock covers about 100 square feet at 2 inches. A 10-ton truckload runs $400 to $1,000 before delivery, which is double what the same load of [#57 gravel](/gravel/types/57-gravel) costs. Bagged river rock at home centers is $5 to $9 per half-cubic-foot bag, or 8 to 12 times the bulk price, so only bag it for a planter or a tiny accent. Because river rock is expensive and heavy, measure carefully before ordering. The planner below computes tons from a satellite photo of the area. ## What to Avoid Do not use river rock as a driveway, walkway, or patio surface; it rolls and you will hate walking on it. Do not put it under pavers or in a base layer. Do not use small river rock on slopes. Do not lay it directly on soil without fabric. And do not use it inside a French drain if a cheaper clean crushed stone is available; #57 does the same job for half the price. For the side by side with the cheaper rounded option, read [pea gravel vs river rock](/gravel/types/compare/pea-gravel-vs-river-rock). Yards also call it River Stone or River Pebbles. GoodGravel lists 128 suppliers that stock river rock across 39 states. 49 of them deliver and 42 are pits or quarries that sell straight from the stockpile.

Expect river rock to run $40 to $100 per ton at the yard, or $45 to $120 per cubic yard. A 10 ton load is $400 to $1000 before delivery. Sold at landscape yards and stone yards rather than quarries. Color mix varies by source, so ask to see the pile. Larger sizes and single-color rock are often special order. Priced by the ton; bagged at home centers. Pits sit at the low end of that range and landscape yards at the high end, since the yard bought it from a pit and trucked it in.

River Rock works well for dry creek beds, garden beds and ground cover, downspout splash pads and swales, and foundation perimeters. Skip it for driveways and walkways and patios. The upside: best-looking bulk stone, natural mixed colors and never decomposes, one-time install. The catch: expensive, $40 to $100 per ton.

River rock is sold by size band: 3/4 to 1 inch (sometimes called large pea gravel), 1 to 2 inch (egg rock), 2 to 3 inch, 3 to 5 inch, and 5 to 8 inch cobbles. Every piece is smooth and rounded. Colors are a natural mix of tan, brown, gray, cream, rust, and black, with regional loads that run mostly one shade. Single-color sorted rock costs more. One cubic yard of river rock weighs about 1.48 tons. A 3 inch layer over 500 square feet takes 4.6 cubic yards, which is close to 6.8 tons. Add 10 percent for settling and the odd low spot.

Press the location button at the top of the page and the list sorts by distance from you. Call the closest yard and ask for river rock by name and by size. Ask if it is washed or still has fines in it, because that changes how it drains and how it packs. If the nearest yard is out, the next one is usually within 20 miles when you are near a city.

Under 2 tons, pickup with your own truck or a trailer is the cheaper route. A half ton pickup takes about a third of a yard per trip. Above 5 tons, delivery starts to pay for itself because the fee spreads over more stone. Either way, get the total price for your exact tonnage from two yards and compare those totals, not the price per ton.

Read more about the material on the river rock guide.