River rock for sale by the bag, the ton, or the yard
Every size and color above is for sale in the quantity your project needs. Borders, planters and small features go by the bag or a sample. Creek beds, swales and open ground cover are ordered as bulk river rock, priced per ton or per cubic yard. Pick a size on any product page and it shows the current cost for that exact unit.
River rock is one of the heavier decorative stones, at roughly 2,900 pounds per cubic yard or about 1.45 tons, so a price per yard and a price per ton are meaningfully different numbers. Size drives coverage too: 1 inch to 3 inch river rock leaves larger voids and covers less ground per ton than smaller, tighter-packing grades.
How much river rock do I need?
Measure length times width, then plan on 2 inches deep for decorative cover and 3 inches or more for a creek bed or drainage channel. As a planning figure, a ton of 1 inch to 3 inch river rock covers roughly 75 square feet at 2 inches. Run your dimensions through the coverage calculator, or read how much river rock do I need and cubic yards vs tons.
Building a drainage feature? See how to build a dry creek bed and landscape rock drainage solutions, and compare pebbles, beach pebbles, and rip rap. For bulk loads and freight, request a quote.
River rock or river rocks?
Same stone either way. Smaller smooth river rocks in the 3/4 to 2 inch range work as ground cover and around plantings, while larger river rocks from 3 to 5 inches and up hold slopes and line dry creek beds.
If you want the smaller, smoother sizes specifically, see river pebbles. For the full size range, everything on this page is river rock sold by the bag, half ton or ton.
River rock sizes: which grade for which job
River rock is graded by size, and the size decides the job. Pea-sized 3/8 inch and 1/2 to 3/4 inch stone packs tightly for drainage layers and fine ground cover. 1 inch river rock, sold as 3/4 to 1-1/2 inch on Arizona River Rock, Salt River Rock, Lodi Gold River Rock, Santa Maria Float River Rock and Noiyo River Rock, is the everyday ground cover and border grade. 2 inch river rock, the 1-1/2 to 3 inch grade, gives planting beds and pond edges a bolder texture. 3 inch and 4 inch river rock, sold as 2 to 4 inch on Mission River Rock Cobbles, Visalia River Rock and San Gabriel River Rock, is the dry creek bed and swale grade. 6 inch river rock and up, the 4 to 8, 6 to 18 and 8 to 24 inch cobbles on Arizona, Salt River, San Gabriel, Sespe Wild River Cobble and Baja Sunburst, lines creek banks and holds slopes.
How much is a ton of river rock?
Each product page shows the current price per ton and per 1,000 pounds, and the price changes with the size you pick. Most California river rock lands between $130 and $220 per ton; hand-selected cobble and imported stone such as Baja Sunburst run higher. 1 ton of river rock covers about 75 square feet at 2 inches deep in the 1 to 3 inch grades, so 2 tons of river rock covers roughly 150 square feet and 3 tons about 225. Larger cobble covers less per ton because of the voids between stones. Every size is also sold as a 16 oz or 32 oz sample so you can check the color wet and dry before ordering by the ton.
