Many travelers drive to Florida to enjoy a beach vacation. If you’ve made this track from Ohio, Illinois, or Indiana you’ve surely taken I 75 from Atlanta to Florida. This route is littered with many exits that include gas stations and convenience stores.
While these businesses may seem like a convenient stop for gas, food, and a bathroom break, you will quickly find that the restroom facilities in gas stations or fast food restaurants are not large enough to handle the traffic of families on road trips. It becomes rapidly obvious that these businesses are not concerned with their restroom facilities. In addition to frequently being filthy, most convenient stores have only a single person bathroom. Waiting for that slow person locked in the room in front of you is agonizing for the parent of a child who's got to go!
I have found that stopping in convenience stores instead of a rest area can add an extra 20 minutes per stop.
With the rest area everyone in the family can take care business independently and quickly. You can count on ample parking as well as a safe and clean facility. There is usually even room to run around without the threat of getting hit buy a car.
On many road trips I have found myself thwarted by not knowing when to expect the next rest area.
Maybe this is happened to you…
Only to find you were just 3 miles away from a perfectly clean rest area that serves fresh hot coffee, salty snacks, and ice cream!
It is for this reason we have taken a survey of every rest area on I-75 from Tampa, Florida to Atlanta Georgia, including pictures and descriptions of the facilities.
From Tampa, driving North on i75, at mile marker 305 is the Sumter County rest area.
This is a slightly smaller and older style rest area but is well maintained.
This exit has a very acute pull off and short exit ramp before deciding if you should go left or right.
From Tampa, driving North on i75, at mile marker 346 is the Marion County rest area.
This is an older style rest area but is well maintained.
From Tampa, driving North, the first rest area you encounter is at mile marker 278 in Polk County.
I75 Rest Area FL Mile Marker 278 is a realtively new, well maintainted rest area featuring a pet walk, advantage parking for alternative fuel vehicles, vending, and clean rest rooms. This rest area is 16 miles North of Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, FL
