I use groundcovers in the shady backyard - but none of them would be suitable for between stepping stones. If you're considering thyme, I assume the area is sunny...? The best thyme is likely to be wooly thyme - it forms a low mat so it's less likely to tangle up your feet like some of the taller thyme might.

Most of my groundcovers are in shade and tend to be invasive. I love Sweet Woodruff and that does tend to take over, but it's so pretty. Just keep it in a fairly small bed that you can mow around...kind of like spearmint! LOL

My mom always likes lemon thyme because it has a nice fragrance, but I think it does get taller than wooly thyme. Alyssum is wonderful in gardens to keep weeds down between your plants, but I don't know how well it would do between stepping stones. Here, alyssum likes a lot of water, but we have hot, dry summers.

My other favorite ground cover right now is strawberries, but it does bring in the yellow jackets...at least at my mom's house, but here, it works great, under all the blueberry bushes. I have a lot of blueberry bushes, so right now there's plenty of space, but they do spread fast. It's great to go out and pick strawberries in the evening and the birds love them :)

There was just a post about sedums the other day. Would those work between stepping stones?

Might be a good idea to consider the height of the groundcover before anything else, since taller groundcovers might making walking on the path difficult or even dangerous for some. Cerastium (snow in summer) is a fairly tall groundcover in my garden.
Guessing your pathway is in full sun??

Then I agree with the vote for wooly thyme would work well. It stays fairly low and is drought tolerant. Some of the lower growing creeping sedums might work well too.

This spring I bought the cutest groundcover baby's breath, Gypsophila cerastioides. Seems to be doing fairly well in a full sun and somewhat dry location. Flowers are adorable ;-)
CMK

Here is a link that might be useful: Gypsophila cerastioides

Creeping Jenny - it is lime green and so pretty.
Likes shady areas but grows best for me in filtered shade and along the sunny edges around my shade gardens. Likes to grow along stepping stones and around rocks. Does just fine in drought-like conditions. (Which is a definition of my garden soil and conditions - drought-like all the time). It just glows and is so dainty. Looks lovely growing around garden statues and on garden walls.
Also very pretty added to a potted arrangement with geraniums or the like.
In some gardens it can become a terribly pesky, invasive plant, but not on my property.

~Annie

The plants I have that tolerate foot traffic are a low growing thyme with tiny pink flowers and Ajuga reptans (bugle weed). The latter could be invasive without some control in a warmer zone altho it's OK here and easy to pull.

I have several other ground covers but they don't tolerate foot traffic.

You might have a look at the link posted below for more ideas.

Here is a link that might be useful: ground covers

I just ripped out the creeping jenny that I put in a planter this year. It climbed out and started rooting in the garden. After reading about it on-line, I decided I didn't want to take the chance of it being invasive. I do love the look of it though, but "no thugs in my garden."

Thymus serpyllum var. coccineus "Red Creeping"is suppose to be good for foot traffic. One of the forums recently had a thread re: sedum with some lovely pictures, but I can't find it now.

what alot of great ideas to review! The area is full sun, and i didnt plan on doing any extra watering besides rain. I really wish moss didnt need shade and moisture because i love the feeling of it underfoot I used to walk around my longisland backyard barefoot just for fun! lol

I think i will read more about thyme and snow in summer. The babies breath looks great too! And i appreciate the website Luckygal, because it has all the info i could need!

I feel like i will appreciate some invasivness so things can fill in cheaply and quickly. I also have to find the perfect stepping stones,another winter hunt!

LL, i really like sweet woodruff too! I dont have it in my garden but ive seen it around, and i like the way raindrops settle into the center of the leaves(very pretty, like lupines!) I hope that makes sense. :)

Time to get a winter garden notebook and start taking notes! :)

My woodruff was in cahoots with my catmint to take over the whole yard.

I do like creeping jenny, but I understand what you mean about the color. I use a lot of thyme. There are so many neat varieties. Not sure about sweet alysum. Mine has never reseeded and I plant it every year.

http://www.stepables.com is a website I found while looking for varieties of sedum. I know nothing about this vendor, but I have found a lot of information here. They list garden centers in your area that carry their plants.
Happy hunting. Jane

Here is a link that might be useful: Stepables/Ground Cover

Oh, THAT kind of ground cover!

The Wooley thyme is a lovely groundcover.
Thyme can take some treading upon,but not heavy traffic.

I have seen magazines showing Irish Moss as ground cover. Would be good in some areas (zones/regions).

I also grow Creeping or Water Speedwell - it is a beautiful ground cover. Has light blue flowers in Spring. Pretty, delicate leaves. Can take some treading upon and survives my dry-as-a-bone soil. Mine is growing along and over a stepping-stone path, and it gets a fair amount of traffic.
For my dryer areas, I use Creeping Myrtle (Periwinkle, Vinca) and creeping phlox. The Creeping Myrtle requires a "haircut' from time to time, but other than that it requires little if any maintenance. I don't even water them and they do fantastically on their own. It does an excellent job of covering the ground and holding the soil from washing. I have three kinds - each has different leaf coloration. I love the pretty Periwinkle flowers. Each one has different flower color.

Cottoneaster makes a lovely groundcover, too. One of my cousins used it along her driveway. It looked wonderful and smelled so sweet.

I grow Blue Spruce Sedum down by my mailbox as a groundcover. It is very dry there. In a short time it completely covered the ground. Pretty yellow flowers in early summer. It is one of my faves. Love Sedums of all kinds. I also have a lime-colored variety that has yellow flowers. It likes a little more moisture, but other than that, it covers the ground fast. Pretty grown in a terra cotta pot too. I got it from my grandfather's old place before it was torn down. He built a life-sized false wishing well and grew the two kinds of sedum in it. It spilled over the edges here and there. Sedum is lovely in with rocks too. I have a number of sedum varieties.

Below is a link to a website that has a good assortment of groundcovers to look at, read about, and consider.

Best wishes,
~Annie

Here is a link that might be useful: Groundcovers

For between stepping stones I use mazus reptans and sedum hispanicum. Both stay really short (an inch or so) and evergreen, fill in the cracks, and are quite pretty. The sedum can get burned out, but the mazus always looks good.

Well there are just way too many possibilities!!! Im kinda stumped now.
Heres what i like so far:

Snow in summer (but i know it browns out in the heat and humidity which we have :( )

Veronica nestor ( Sweet annie-similar to your creeping speedwell i think? )

mother of thyme (but i feel like its too short)

catmint blue carpet (i just adore catmint! however i wanted to use walkers low as my border so im wondering if i should rethink that.)

Im really having fun with this tho! I am pretty excited to see how this turns out. Bye bye grass!!

Some think Muehlenbeckia axillaries (Creeping Wire Vine)is invasive but it is well behaved for me, I have it planted in crushed driveway chip and is not spreading fast enough for me :(. I also like Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' I'm finding it grows as a pretty dense ground cover where I have it planted. Would either of these be suitable to your zone?

Annette

Here is a link that might be useful: Wire Vine