The World’s Largest Truck Stop

Sept 27, 20163:45 PM

USA/ — Marin Page, 13, watches the festivities while lounging next to her family’s truck during the Iowa 80 Truckstop’s 33^rd Annual Truckers Jamboree in Walcott, Iowa, July 12, 2012.
Adrees Latif/Reuters

USA/ — A man sits near his truck after attending the Iowa 80 Truckstop’s 33^rd Annual Truckers Jamboree in Walcott, Iowa, on July 12, 2012.
Adrees Latif/Reuters

USA/ — Elderly women blush while shopping at the Iowa 80 Truckstop during the truck stop’s 33^rd Annual Truckers Jamboree in Walcott, Iowa, on July 12, 2012.
Adrees Latif/Reuters

Atlas Obscura on Slate is a blog about the world’s hidden wonders. Like us on Facebook and Tumblr, or follow us on Twitter.

Heading west on Interstate 80 in Iowa, you’ll come across a gigantic billboard proclaiming, “18 miles to WOW!” If you follow the billboard’s instructions and get off at Exit 284, that’s just what you’ll say.

In eastern Iowa, just west of the Quad Cities, lies the Iowa 80 Truckstop, the largest truck stop in the world. Established in 1964, the Iowa 80 Truckstop has been dubbed “a small city” and “a trucker’s Disneyland,” and to this day it serves as the ultimate one-stop shop to make every cross-country trucker feel at home.

USA/ — A couple prepares to lift their children, sitting in a stroller, after shopping at the Iowa 80 Truckstop store ahead of the 33^rd Annual Truckers Jamboree in Walcott, Iowa, July 12, 2012.
Adrees Latif/Reuters

USA/ — Kameron Hays, 7, sports a mohawk hairstyle while attending the Iowa 80 Truckstop’s 33^rd Annual Truckers Jamboree in Walcott, Iowa, July 12, 2012.
Adrees Latif/Reuters

USA/ — A girl wears her jeans partially outside her boots during the the Iowa 80 Truckstop’s 33^rd Annual Truckers Jamboree in Walcott, Iowa, July 12, 2012.
Adrees Latif/Reuters

USA/ — Joyce Wagner sits on a bale of hay while taking part in the Iowa 80 Truckstop’s 33^rd Annual Truckers Jamboree in Walcott, Iowa, July 12, 2012.
Adrees Latif/Reuters

Spanning dozens of acres and advertised with the words “Iowa 80” in huge red lettering, the Iowa 80 Truckstop is impossible to miss. Upon entering the two-story, 55,000-square-foot facility, truckers will be greeted by the smells of eight different restaurants, from Dairy Queen to the home-cooked Iowa 80 Kitchen. Past the convenience store and rows upon rows of souvenirs, visitors will descend into the Super Truck Showroom, which has every truck part imaginable on display, plus a gift shop, a towering panel of flashing lights, a game room, and even an embroidery center. Three trucks are on display, including one that is painted with an Iowa-themed mural and another that is constantly rotating in circles.

USA/ — Truck driver St. Patrick Reid takes photographs in the Iowa 80 trucking museum in Walcott, Iowa, July 12, 2012.
Adrees Latif/Reuters

USA/ — Festival goers walk through the parking lot of the Iowa 80 while attending the truck stop’s 33^rd Annual Truckers Jamboree in Walcott, Iowa, July 12, 2012.
Adrees Latif/Reuters

USA/ — Will Schmidt, a truck driver from Montana, drinks a beer while attending the Iowa 80 Truckstop’s 33^rd Annual Truckers Jamboree in Walcott, Iowa, July 12, 2012.
Adrees Latif/Reuters

USA/ — A couple walks through the parking lot of the Iowa 80 Truckstop after the 33^rd Annual Truckers Jamboree in Walcott, Iowa, July 12, 2012.
Adrees Latif/Reuters

That’s just the first floor. On the building’s second floor, nicknamed the “Trucker’s Loft,” truckers will find a workout room, old-time gas pumps, and even a walk-in barber shop waiting for them. The Trucker’s Loft also includes a laundromat, a miniature library, a certified chiropractor, the Trucker’s Christian Chapel, and the Driver’s Den, a small movie theater. Also found at the Trucker’s Loft is the “Interstate Dental,” a dentist shop which has been run by Dr. Thomas Roemer for 23 straight years.

Outside of the main truck stop building you’ll find a hotel, RV camp, truck wash, and “Dog-O-Mat” dog wash. The 40,000-square-foot Iowa 80 Trucking Museum, located a few hundred feet north of the truck stop, is home to the REO Theatre, 304 road signs, and 60 antique trucks. Wow, indeed!

Place contributed by Atlas user lewblank

If you liked this, you’ll probably enjoy Atlas Obscura’s new book, which collects more than 700 of the world’s strangest and most amazing places: Atlas Obscura: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Hidden Wonders.