When you’re planning a roadtrip, rest areas are usually unplanned stops. But there are some that are so spectacular you should make plans to stop for a while.
I-70: Glenwood Canyon, Colorado
Four rest areas are placed along a 12-mile stretch of the interstate, offering a recreation path along the river as well as access to rafting and hiking. The interstate is an engineering marvel through the narrow canyon, meaning that mudslides and flooding are frequent. The Colorado DOT has a page on its website just for information on travel through this area. In fact, I had to reroute my 2021 trip due to a massive mudslide here. I’ve only had a chance to experience this area once and didn’t know it was going to be so spectacular, so I plan to return!
I-70: San Rafael Swell, Utah
Drivers headed on a journey across I-70 in both Utah and Colorado are in for a treat because they get to experience not only Glenwood Canyon in Colorado, but the San Rafael Swell and Black Dragon Canyon in Utah. They were among the last parts of the originally-envisioned interstate system to be completed. In Utah, there are five rest areas in a 45-mile stretch (two can only be accessed from one side of the highway) offering views that rival what you’d see from overlooks in nearby Canyonlands National Park. Not knowing that this was ahead, I stopped at one overlook to eat dinner and at another to walk around and take in the view.
I-94: Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
Theodore Roosevelt National Park’s Painted Canyon Visitor Center is also an interstate rest area! The overlook offers wide views into the park, and there’s even a one-mile loop trail into the canyon. I’ve been into the park itself a few times, and I always make it a point to stop at the rest area whenever I’m passing through the area.
Minnesota Highway 61: Gooseberry, Tettegouche, and Grand Portage State Parks
These are a lot closer to home for me, but they still hold up against other national sites. Each of these state parks along Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior is also a designated rest area, so you don’t need to pay admission to park in the rest area parking lot for up to four hours (though I do have a park sticker and venture farther into the parks). At Gooseberry, the main falls area is just a short paved walk from the parking lot, which fills quickly on summer and fall weekends. The Tettegouche rest area parking lot is also the trailhead for the 3/4-mile hike up spectacular Shovel Point, with access to Lake Superior and the mouth of the Baptism River. Grand Portage State Park is the last exit before Canada and offers a half-mile walk to High Falls.