My personal fave is the Panaracer Pasela TG 32mm for pavement, gravel and hardpack path. They're a great all-arounder tire that can take a lot of abuse, withstand high miles, and offers good ride feel. Plus, they don't cost an arm and a leg. I used a pair on the 3 Volcanoes 300k last year, and there was about 15 miles total of loose gravel service road, and tons of potholed chip-seal.

I live on an unpaved country lane, at least 5 km to a paved road. Regular Schwalbe Marathons provide a good service on these mixed surfaces. I'm a large rider - so 32 mm is better for me, don't need to inflate them to max. Continental contacts is another good choice, they seem to run a little narrow - so for my partner they are a good balance of width and performance.

I always found the panaraver Urban Pros to be real nice for that type of riding

http://www.performancebike.com/bikes...8_20000_400237

I did a very similar ride on marathon plus 700x45s and it worked out well when I bailed into the gravel. I believe there's a new marathon model that has a bit more knobbiness and that might be worth looking at also. Bigger is better IMHO.

I ride on the 700x28 Kenda Kwests that came with my bike, and after 2700km of riding, including some very poor quality road surface including debris, large cracks, uneven pavement, metal plates, etc, I haven't had a single puncture. They hardly look worn after that much distance too - when it comes time for replacement, I'll probably just buy another pair. :)