🏡 Build Your Own Backyard Stones Course

You don’t need a park. You need imagination, a rake, and maybe a beer.

Look, we get it. You can’t always make it to a public course.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t throw. Some of the best Stones matches we’ve seen happened in someone's weirdly-shaped yard with a folding chair as a boundary and a dog barking in the background.

Whether you’ve got a sloped city lawn, a chunk of woods in the suburbs, or just an alley that doesn’t get much traffic, you can build your own course. Here's how.

🧰 What You'll Need

Stones
This one’s obvious.

A Rake
Grass, dirt, leaves, or mulch. Clear your surface so the Stones don’t bounce into another zip code.

Boundaries
Every stretch needs some kind of border. What you use is totally up to you. We've seen:

• Logs

• Rocks

• Branches

• Bricks

• Lines scraped into the dirt

• Spray paint

• A well-placed beer can
  As long as it’s clear what’s in bounds and what’s not, you’re golden.

🧠 Planning Your Layout

This is the part where you wander around your yard staring at the ground like you’re finding buried treasure. (You’re not. You’re just finding a cool place to throw.)

Walk the space. Look for features that make it interesting:

• Slopes

• Tree clusters

• Roots

• Flower beds

• Rock piles

• That weird stump you always trip on

If your yard’s flat and boring, make it less boring. Throw down some logs. Pile up some sticks. Drop a few bricks where you want challenges or a little chaos to happen. Stones is a creative game and your course should be, too.

🧱 Building the Stretches

• A full course has 5 stretches and 1 X, but your backyard doesn’t need to be official-size.

• If you’ve only got space for 2 or 3 good stretches, great. Quality over quantity.

• Want to get creative? Design a route where you throw forward through 3 stretches, then turn around and play them in reverse.

Pro tip: Design your landings first, those are the goal zones, then work backwards to build the stretches that lead into them.

Each stretch should feel different. Use shape, space, and obstacles to make them unique. A short, tricky stretch with a root hazard is just as legit as a long straight one.

🧪 Play & Adjust

Now the fun part: test it out.

• Is it too easy to get to the Mark? Add a hazard.

• Are people playing it the same way every time? Move a log.

• Is it totally unfair in one spot? Good. Leave it. Then trash talk when you survive it.

Your course will evolve. That’s part of the game. You’re not trying to win design awards, you’re trying to create something fun, frustrating, and just competitive enough to ruin friendships.

📩 Questions? Want Feedback?

We love this stuff. If you're working on a home course and want to show it off or get some tips, hit us up at on socials @pittsburghstones or email us at info@pittsburghstones.com. We’ll help you make it awesome, then probably ask if we can play it with you.

Now get out there and build something.

And maybe grab that rake.