The radial intensity gradients near the ecliptic plane for galactic cosmic ray He (180--450 MeV/nucleon), H (130--220 MeV), and the integral counting rate of ions >70 MeV are studied using the Pioneer 10/11, Voyager 2, and IMP 6, 7, and 8 observing network over the 1972.25--1996.0 time period at heliocentric distances extending to 64 AU. These gradients display complex temporal and spatial changes that are dominated by the 11-year solar activity cycle but with the 22-year heliomagnetic cycle also having an important role. The data are well ordered out to ~55 AU using a radial dependence of the intensity gradient gr of the form G0r&agr;, where r is the heliocentric distance in astronomical units (AU). With this representation it becomes possible to estimate gr as a function of r at a given time or as a function of time at a given radial distance. Over successive solar minima these values of gr decrease rapidly with increasing heliocentric distance, and for He at 50 AU are 3 times larger in 1987 than in 1977, in general agreement with the expected effects of particle gradient and curvature drifts in the large-scale interplanetary magnetic field. Near solar maximum the gradients increase significantly over their solar minimum values, with a greatly reduced radial dependence for He, while for H, gr increases with increasing r. The radial gradients of the integral rate of ions >70 MeV show a much smaller temporal and spatial variation.¿ 1997 American Geophysical Union