Welcome

Welcome to the Interstate Rest Areas website. The information presented here will help you locate rest areas across the United States. There are several ways to view the information:

Be sure to check out our book, Rest Area Guide. It’s available at Amazon and other online retailers and is useful for when you don’t have an Internet connection.

Lost Items

If you believe you’ve lost or left an item in a rest area, you’ll need to contact the appropriate State Department of Transportation (DOT) office. Each state’s DOT office is responsible for maintaining rest areas. They may be able to assist you with items lost or left behind in a rest area. Please do not contact us as we are unable to assist you.

Overnight Parking Rules

Some states allow weary travelers to sleep in their vehicles as long as needed; others place a time limit on how long you should stay. Time limits are not generally strictly enforced unless there is reason to believe the rules are being abused.

Camping is not permitted in any rest area. Camping is generally defined as setting up a tent or sleeping on the ground. Sleeping in your RV is not considered camping. There are some rest areas, however, in Oregon and Montana that provide access to a state park or national forest in which camping is permitted. In some turnpike service plazas in Ohio, overnight RV parking spaces are available for a nominal fee.

Overnight parking rules vary by state. For an overview, please select the link below.

If you have specific questions regarding rest area usage rules, please contact the state’s DOT office; don’t contact us as we cannot assist you.

Frequently Asked Questions

To learn the answer to some common questions, refer to the link below:

Rest Area Facts

The Interstate System

Watch this interesting 8-minute video to learn about the Interstate highway system.

10 thoughts on “Welcome”

  1. Thank you for existing & for creating such a thorough resource of these sometimes overlooked very important shelters for drivers.

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