Freeway rest areas not on the freeway

[roadman65]

I was noticing that in many of my travels that some rest areas on interstates are not exactly on the interstate proper.  One must exit the freeway and use a side road where the facility is located.

Places that I have found are:

I-75 in Punta Gorda, FL via Exit 161 to Jones Loop Road where area is located.
I-24 in Paducah, KY via Exit 7 to Jack Paxton Drive (westbound requires turnabout) where area is located.
I-10 near Bay St. Louis, MS via Exit 2 to MS 607 where area is located.

I distinctly remembered one on I-70 in Colorado, but cannot remember where, even with google.  However it was located at some small town somewhere between Denver and Grand Junction.  The area was overlooking the Colorado River, but not directly served by ramps to/from I-70.  It might not be there any more as to why I cannot find it on google maps and aerials.

The former Kansas Welcome Center for I-35 SB entering from Missouri was located off the freeway, but it was only an information center with no rest area, so I would not count this as a full rest area, however it is sort of kind of.

Any other rest areas?

[Pete from Boston]

Massachusetts has these in Plymouth and Barnstable.

There are at least a couple of these on A-10 near Orford and (I think) Bromont, Québec.

[briantroutman]

The PA welcome center on I-80 at exit 310 (PA 611) is another example. It was constructed a few years ago, but based on old photos, it appears to have replaced an earlier welcome center at the same exit–which perhaps existed as early as I-80 was commissioned.

(borrowed from alpsroads.net)

[froggie]

The Thompson Hill Travel Information Center in Duluth, MN is located along I-35's frontage road (coincident with Duluth's Skyline Pkwy here) between Exit 249 (CSAH 14) and Exit 250 (US 2 West).

[robbones]

US 69 near Trading Post, KS. The rest area is on K 52 east of the freeway.

[WashuOtaku]

Interstate 40 in North Carolina, Exit 364; the Rest Area (built in 1990) is located in the medium of the interchange, near Warsaw.

[Mapmikey]

Another in North Carolina:

Welcome Center - US 29 at NC 700, must exit to NC 700 to reach it

Mapmikey

[Joe The Dragon]

Colorado Welcome Center on I-76

one kind of

The rest area on I-94 in  Kenosha, WI

[vdeane]

The PA welcome center on I-84

Also, the West Gardiner service area on the Maine Turnpike

[GCrites]

Princeton Welcome Center off I-77 in WV

[GaryV]

Michigan Welcome Centers in Sault Ste Marie and Mackinaw City (off I-75).  Yes, Michigan has Welcome Centers not near the boundary of the state.  Besides Mackinaw, thy are near Clare and Marquette.

[Zmapper]

I-25 at Prospect Road, Ft. Collins, CO.

This one is rather egregious due to a traffic signal at both ramp intersections as well as at the rest area entrance. A northbound driver would pass through six traffic signals to use the rest area. You might as well stop at a proper gas station/truck stop and have more amenities at this point.

[CtrlAltDel]

I distinctly remembered one on I-70 in Colorado, but cannot remember where, even with google.  However it was located at some small town somewhere between Denver and Grand Junction.  The area was overlooking the Colorado River, but not directly served by ramps to/from I-70.

I believe what you’re thinking of are the four rest areas in the Glenwood Canyon area. Because they serve both sides of the highway, they are accessible by a "regular" kind of exit.

Here’s the lat&long of the four:

39.560109,-107.291427
39.560506,-107.250942
39.589656,-107.19005
39.614309,-107.138837

Also on I-70 in Colorado, near these four, is the welcome center in Fruita, which is accessible by surface streets and roundabouts (39.153739, -108.736841).

Past that, the I-40 Westbound Welcome Center in Arizona is accessed by a "regular" exit, but it has a direct ramp back to the highway (35.353045,-109.057858).

There’s also a welcome center in Wisconsin like this, in that it has both direct highway and surface street access (42.522392,-87.949468). (Joe mentioned this one, too.)

Then, there’s the I-40 Welcome Center in Amarillo, Texas, which meets the criteria of your OP directly (35.19164,-101.725991).

Then, there’s the welcome center in Oklahoma City, at the junction of I-44 and I-35 and the Kilpatrick Turnpike, which also meets the OP’s criteria directly (35.594088,-97.434742).

There’s also a welcome center off I-15 in Mesquite, Nevada, accessible by surface streets, but it might not count since it’s run by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and not the state of Nevada. It has truck parking and everything, though (36.812171,-114.062645).

On I-95 north in Maine, there’s a welcome center accessible from the interstate in the regular way, but it is also accessible from US-1 by regular surface streets. You can even, with a bit of meandering, get from 95 to 1 and vice versa through this welcome center (43.128305,-70.716801).


For what it’s worth, I’ve been to all of these rest areas, except the Oklahoma City one, because I didn’t know it was there even though I spent the night at the nearby Motel 6.

[mhh]

Michigan Welcome Centers in Sault Ste Marie and Mackinaw City (off I-75).  Yes, Michigan has Welcome Centers not near the boundary of the state.  Besides Mackinaw, thy are near Clare and Marquette.

The former Rest Area/Welcome Center in Port Huron on westbound I-94/I-69 was accessed from the Water Street exit ramp. To enter the rest area, one had to exit the freeway at Water Street and then take a left exit from the exit ramp into the rest area. To re-enter the freeway, one had to merge back onto the exit ramp and cross a signalized intersection onto the entrance ramp from Water Street to the freeway.

The facility was closed three years ago when the interchange was reconfigured, but Bing still has an old map showing the weird Rest Area access:

http://binged.it/1xEW4Ge

[cl94]

Are we counting the liquor store at I-95 Exit 5 in New Hampshire near the Maine border? 

[empirestate]

Ugh, this one drives me nuts: The I-91 rest area in Greenfield, MA is at–indeed, is only–a Registry of Motor Vehicles located off the freeway and even a couple of turns off of Route 2A. As such, though it's signed along the freeway as a normal rest area with normal services (read: bathrooms), the building only accessible during business hours for the RMV, which, as you might imagine, are even less accommodating than banker's hours.

I even pulled in there one evening to walk my dog, and lo and behold, they don't allow dogs. Nope, not even outside in the parking lot or on the sidewalks.

It's just about the stupidest place I've ever been.

[hbelkins]

The rest area off the Mountain Parkway at Exit 33. You have to exit onto KY 11 to access the rest area.

The I-26 welcome center after entering Tennessee from North Carolina.

The West Virginia welcome center entering from Ohio. (Someone else mentioned Princeton; that means both of I-77's welcome centers are not on the freeway.

[Revive 755]

* The rest area/welcome center on I-270 in Missouri requires exiting at Riverview, and then going west Dunn Road (the north outer road for I-270).

* The former rest area on I-255 in Missouri, now a CDL test site, required exiting at Koch Road (Exit 3)

[TheHighwayMan3561]

The former Wisconsin welcome center on I-94 in Hudson used to require exiting at Carmichael Road (Exit 2). But a few years ago the rest area/welcome center was moved about 40 miles east to Menomonie and no longer fits the criteria.

[dfwmapper]

Sunset Point on I-17 in Arizona
Wiley's Well on I-10 in California (anyone know if it still has the signs warning of snakes?)

[NE2]

I-24 in Paducah, KY via Exit 7 to Jack Paxton Drive (westbound requires turnabout) where area is located.

If you mean turnaround, it doesn't. You turn left on US 45 and right into the welcome center. And it's a welcome center, which would normally only be accessible eastbound anyway.

[bulldog1979]

The Welcome Center on US 41 in Marinette, Wisconsin, is located on a side street adjacent to the highway and the Menominee River. Traffic coming over the Interstate Bridge from Michigan has to follow that side street for about a half block after turning at the first intersection in the state.

[DandyDan]

There's one I know about for sure in South Dakota, the one at the SD 50 exit (the Vermillion and Yankton exit) off of I-29.  I also believe the one at the Ward exit on I-29 (Exit 121) is as well, but I do not regularly go that way to know that for sure.

There's also the Nebraska Welcome Center at the 13th Street exit in Omaha just north of the former Rosenblatt Stadium and the Henry Doorly Zoo, in a building which should be thoroughly remodeled and modernized.

I also thought the welcome center for I-90 going west into Minnesota was not directly off the freeway, either.

[froggie]

I also thought the welcome center for I-90 going west into Minnesota was not directly off the freeway, either.

It sorta is and sorta isn't, but it does technically meet the OP's criteria as you can also access it from US 14/61.

[Tom958]

Columbus welcome center off of I-185