In 1958 and 1959, following AASHO guidelines, Ohio built the nation’s first safety rest areas along the new interstate highways. Other states soon followed, and Ohio upgraded those simple parks several times over the years and added many more. In 2023, the state began a round of “reimaginings” that will build some new rest areas and upgrade others to create a generation of pull-offs that are half park and half museum. As museums, they include exhibits and information about the community in which they are located. As parks, they offer trails, attractive landscaping, and places to relax. They also provide safety, restrooms, and vending machines. I first encountered this new generation last June, when I stopped at a rest area on the way home from Pennsylvania that promoted the National Road and the Walther Museum. When I heard of the opening of one nearby with an exhibit on Cincinnati’s American Sign Museum, I knew I had to check it out. I had an opportunity to do that Wednesday.

The rest area is on southbound I-75, less than two miles past Exit 29. I naturally headed straight to the Sign Museum exhibit as soon as I got there. A couple of real signs with local connections are displayed along with information panels about several others. Plus, there’s a Plan Your Visit panel.

Here are the other three sides of the lobby-like interior. The rest area is inside Butler County, and one side holds a panel promoting the Butler County Donut Trail. I’ve been meaning to do the Donut Trail for a long time but still haven’t made it. The rest area gave me a nudge,

Outside is a trail of a different sort. Each newly imagined rest area has a Storybook Trail. As the first sign explains, these Trails are “a partnership between Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Ohio and the Ohio Department of Transportation”.

I mentioned attractive landscaping, and it’s really more than just attractive. It is all native Ohio plants, with signs identifying and describing them. Of course, all that education is purely optional. If you want to just look and rock, we’ve got that too. Learn more about Ohio’s rest areas here.