Advice on building a gravel parking pad

OP, as you've seen the terminology for different aggregates is different everywhere.
Don't call the pit and ask for pit run without knowing what it is there......
To me pit run is exactly that. Whatever comes out of the pit before crushing and screening.
What you use for the pad depends on first if it's soft wet soil and you need a "base" or if it's fairly unyielding and all you need is a top course.
High traffic areas, base course (gravel and fines) will pack in and make a hard more structural surfacing. Recycled asphalt millings or recycled concrete, even better.
This stufff is not aesthetic.
For occasional use on a small pad like you're planning, I'd just get crushed rock. Anywhere from 1-1/2 to 3/4 depending how coarse you want it. Bigger rock will shove less.
Also, buy extra. If you need 6cy neatline, get a few extra yards. Grade it up in an area that won't get packed in and then you have a stockpile to freshen it up, fill in ruts, cover up silted areas etc.

You want as much "dust" in the mix as you can get. Different location different terms. The dust packs down and turns into almost concrete after a few rains or some water from a hose.

crusher run is also known as pit run, or base coarse, with fines and rock up to 3/4".
It is what is used for gravel roads, and base in our campsites. We then top sites with 1" clean to give a well drained clean to shoes surface.
The limestone fines compact into a nearly impervious barrior, stopping weeds and settling due to how hard it compacts. No need for fabric.

tragusa3 wrote:
The sub-soil you're dealing with will partly determine what sort of prep you need to do. I'm on a very hard red clay. We just dumped the gravel, spread it out and used it.

Very true. If you are on sand, landscape cloth is very important as the gravel will just sink into the sand over time.

tragusa3 wrote:
We used "crusher run" and it is closer to cement now than gravel.

Crusher run has different names in different area. It is a combination of 3/4" and down to "fines". It compacts very well. If you are doing more than 4"-6" you should spread the first 3"-4" "lift" and compact that before doing the next "lift".

I want something that wont get stuck in the rv's tire treads also. That is just a pet peeve of mine

I am looking at doing the same thing. Tims Ford State Park in Winchester TN has sites that are all fines. I like it but it tracks something terrible. It sticks on your shoes and you track it into you trailer and TV. The CA6 mentioned sounds like its not as bad as the straight fines. I will keep that in mind.

Big question is what is the underlying soil like. If it's weak, 4" likely won't be enough and it will rut as you pull onto it. Soft clay or muck is bad and no amount of compaction will help, you just need extra thickness.

If it's sand or hard clay, you should be fine.

Dave H M wrote:
The term crusher run may be kinda slangy. i have heard truckers snicker about it.

The road pack around here is graded as CA6. It still has the "fines" in it and packs hard.

If you want stone without fines around here you call it clean.

Like i have CA6 on my road but 3 inch clean along the shore line of my pond.

anyhow personally I would go with CA6

The different terminology is interesting. At the quarry a half mile from my house, you ask for 3/4 minus (usually just called 3/4) if you want some fines in it and 3/4 drain if you want mostly larger stuff.

You mentioned "the RV will just be backed onto it". This may work for you depending on how steep you are backing up. We tried gravel as you described and wheel spin was a headache. We decided to black top over it. We were patient and got some bids. One day we got a call from a black topper who had left over he needed to dump. We got 906 square feet done for a dollar a foot. It is considered temperary so did not affect taxes. Best of luck

The term crusher run may be kinda slangy. i have heard truckers snicker about it.

The road pack around here is graded as CA6. It still has the "fines" in it and packs hard.

If you want stone without fines around here you call it clean.

Like i have CA6 on my road but 3 inch clean along the shore line of my pond.

anyhow personally I would go with CA6