Thanks for the advice. Yea, David and Kasie, I didn't word that very well. I do know that trash ends up in the landfill :) I meant that doing that would be my last resort. In fact, my composter is what's "hiding" all the gravel right now! I did sign up for Chicago freecycle yesterday so once I empty my composter, I will definately "offer" it up to someone and I'll even help shovel it! Thanks again!

You could advertize it for free on Craigslist.org, or any Free web site, and specify they have to load it. That might at least get the project started. Other than that, you can rent a front loader to move it. Maybe even use the front loader to dig a trench to push it into, then cover it? Good luck! --Kris

It might help to first determine the amount of material you need to have removed. Measure your yard and calculate the square footage. Figure you have about 1 ton of material per 100 square feet of yard (roughly). This will give you an idea of whether bulk trash pickup will work for you. Im guessing they will only take so much at one time. I have also put gravel and such in my waste container for pickup but you can only get a couple hundred pounds in there at once and depending on the amount of material you have, that method could take weeks or months to get rid of it all. Another option, as you noted, is to get a roll-off box and fill it yourself. A company like Waste Management can provide this service. I would think you can just put the material in the box and not bag it up but you may want to inquire further on that issue. A one time roll-off delivery and dump will cost you about 500 bucks. The next option is to hire a clean-up company to come in and get it all out of there for you. This is the most expensive option because now you are paying for labor as well as the dump fees. The up-side is you dont have to deal with the material yourself and they will get it clean down to the soil grade for you. If you get to the point where you want to explore this option further I can recommend a few companys that provide this service.

This is a very bad suggestion: hurl the rocks at speeding cars on your street. Hurl the rocks at irritating neighbors. Hey, at least you will feel better until the police come... My whole front yard is river rock--I just plant right through it. Okay, so it takes a drain/ditch spade and some serious leg strength to punch through the rock and the landscape cloth beneath it, but I manage. Sometimes, for a really big hole, I put all the rocks where I want the hole into a 5-gal. paint bucket, then dig through the cloth and earth. My cat (yes, he's STRANGE) loves river rock. He carefully selects a rock, whacks it onto the front walk, then kicks the tar out of it.