A steep gravel driveway rising to a house, edged with stone.

Driveways · Steep Grades

Steep Driveway Snow Plowing in WNC

Name: M&S Land Management
Address: Asheville, NC, US
Telephone: (828) 540-6856

Built for grade, plowed for it.

M&S Land Management builds steep gravel driveways on mountain lots, so plowing them starts with knowing how they are made. The blade rides high to keep the stone, the steep pitches get grit, the ditches and culverts stay open, and the turnaround is cleared so nobody backs down a hill on ice. Driveway snow removal around Asheville, for single drives and shared roads.

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Driveways · Steep Grades

Snow plowing on a steep drive

Why steep drives are different

A car can climb a steep gravel drive on dry stone. Put a thin layer of packed snow or ice on it and the same car spins halfway up or slides on the way down. On a mountain drive, losing grip usually ends in the ditch on the uphill side or over the edge on the downhill side. So the goal of plowing a steep drive is grip first and clearing second.

Steep drives also have less room. A drive cut across a slope has a bank on one side and a drop on the other, with no flat ground to push snow onto. Curves and switchbacks narrow it further. And where the drive meets the state road, the state plow often leaves a ridge of heavy snow across the end, right where a car coming down needs to stop.

Plowing without scraping the stone

Run a blade down to the gravel and it picks up stone along with the snow. Do that a few times in a winter and the finish stone ends up in the ditch and the woods, with the base showing by spring. On gravel the blade is set to ride a little high and leave a thin packed layer. That layer protects the surface and, with grit on top, gives tires something to bite.

It is the same point made in the guide to gravel driveway pros and cons: many owners leave a thin packed layer rather than scraping to the stone. Plowing early in a storm, while the snow is still soft, keeps that layer thin and even, so it does not build into ruts of ice that are harder to drive than the snow was.

Getting a vehicle up and down

Grit goes where grip matters most: the steepest pitch, the curve at the top of it, the stretch above any drop, and the approach to the road where a car has to stop. Fine crushed stone suits a gravel drive because it matches the surface and grades back in come spring. A salt and grit mix goes where ice has stuck to the surface. Shaded stretches that refreeze each night are marked and checked again on the next visit.

Drainage is half of winter safety on a steep drive. Snow pushed into the uphill ditch or over a culvert inlet blocks it, and melt water runs across the drive instead and freezes. Keeping those open is part of every visit. A drive that sheds water badly in summer ices badly in winter, and the fix is the same. See driveway repair and grading.

Turnarounds and parking pads

A cleared drive with a buried turnaround means backing down a steep hill on snow, which is how a lot of cars end up in ditches. The turnaround or parking pad at the house is cleared to full size so a car, a delivery van or a guest can turn around and drive down facing forward. The same goes for any pull-off partway up a long drive, where a car can wait while another passes.

Turnarounds on mountain drives are often built off a switchback or cut into the bank. Snow goes to the side where it will not slide back onto the pad or melt across it. If the pad has no room left, the skid steer loads the snow into the dump truck and it is moved off. The walk and steps from the pad to the door can be added to the same visit.

Shared drives and private roads

Many mountain homes share a drive or a private road with neighbors. Nobody public plows it: Buncombe County maintains no roads, and NCDOT plows only roads on the state system. When each house hires separately, the plow stops at a property line and the road is only as passable as its worst section. One agreement for the whole road, from the state road to the last house, fixes that for everyone on it.

The neighbors decide who signs, how the cost is split and the order of the houses. If the road has a written maintenance agreement, snow may already be covered there. The snow and ice contract guide covers how to set it up. After the season, stone pushed off is set back and the road regraded, so the neighbors start spring with the surface they had in fall.

A finished gravel driveway curving uphill to a residence.

Main snow page

Snow Removal and Ice Control

Plowing, salting, hauling and walk clearing for homes, private roads and businesses around Asheville.

See the page Talk to McKinley

(828) 540-6856

Call or text the address and what needs clearing: a lot, a drive, walks or all three. McKinley sets the route and the terms with you before the first snow.

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What it includes

What that covers

Stone left in place. Blade set high, thin packed layer left on gravel.
Grit on the pitches. Steep sections, curves and the stop at the road.
Turnarounds and pads. Cleared full size so cars drive down facing forward.
Ditches and culverts. Kept open so melt water goes off the drive.
Shared private roads. One agreement from the state road to the last house.
Spring regrade. Displaced stone set back after the season.

Call (828) 540-6856 Free Estimate

More snow and ice work

Main snow page

Snow Removal and Ice Control

Plowing, salting, hauling and walk clearing for homes, private roads and businesses around Asheville.

See the page Snow service

Commercial Snow Contracts

Seasonal, per-push and per-event snow and ice contracts, walked and mapped before the first storm.

See the page Snow service

Salting and Ice Management

Pre-treating, salting and refreeze visits for ice storms, freezing rain and shaded mountain grades.

See the page Snow service

Sidewalk and Entrance Clearing

Walks, entrances, steps and ramps cleared and treated so people get from the car to the door safely.

See the page Snow service

Snow Hauling

Snow piles loaded out with the skid steer and dump truck when a tight mountain lot has nowhere to push.

See the page

Steep drives by town

Steep drives are the norm across much of the service area, from the coves around Asheville to the ridges above Waynesville and Brevard. Local roads and grades are covered on snow removal in Brevard and snow removal in Black Mountain, along with the other town pages, which note where state roads end and private drives begin.

How a snow customer gets set up

Set up before the first storm.

You call

Call or text with the address, how steep the drive or road is and what needs clearing: lot, drive, walks or all of it.

McKinley walks it

He walks the property before the season, notes the grades, the shaded stretches and where the snow can go.

Terms in writing

Seasonal, per push or per event, the trigger, salt and walks are written down before anyone needs them.

Cleared when it falls

When the storm comes, the property is worked in the agreed order and treated where ice will form.

On the ground

The machines and the crew.

These are photographs from McKinley's actual jobs: the same equipment and the same crew that run the snow routes. See more recent work.

A gravel driveway turnaround built in a wooded lot.

A new gravel driveway approach under mature trees, with fresh stone edging.

Freshly laid and crowned gravel on a new driveway surface.

Questions about snow work

Questions people ask

Not seeing yours? Call (828) 540-6856 and ask McKinley, or read the guides.

Answers & guides

All guides

Will plowing pull the gravel off my driveway?

Not if the drive is plowed for gravel. The blade rides a little high and leaves a thin packed layer, so the finish stone stays where it is. Some stone still moves over a winter, mostly at curves and edges. It is set back and the drive regraded in spring, which M&S does as part of its normal driveway work.

Can you plow a driveway too steep for a plow truck?

Often, yes. A tracked skid steer works on steep, narrow gravel drives where a plow truck struggles for grip or room. It climbs on tracks, turns in a small space and can push or carry snow where there is no flat ground beside the drive. How each drive is handled is worked out at the walk-through.

Do you put salt on a gravel driveway?

Sometimes, mixed with grit. Salt alone sinks into loose stone and does little. On a packed layer, a salt and grit mix loosens ice stuck to the surface while the grit gives tires something to hold. Plain fine crushed stone is often the main tool on steep pitches, because it matches the drive and can be graded back in.

Our neighbors share the road. Can we split one contract?

Yes, and it usually works better than each house hiring on its own. One person or the road association signs and receives the bill, and the neighbors split it the way they agree, often the same way they split road repairs. The contract covers the whole road from the state road to the last house, in an agreed order.

What should I do to my drive before winter?

Have it walked in the fall while the ground is bare. Stake the edges, culvert ends, rocks and any drop-off so they can be found under snow. Clear leaves out of the ditches and culvert inlets so melt water has somewhere to go. Fix soft spots and washouts now, since a drive that holds water in fall will hold ice in winter.

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