Wichita County Safety Rest Area
Texas safety rest areas feature many benefits for travelers in Texas.
Our 76 safety rest areas feature 24-hour restrooms. Most locations have attendants on duty 24 hours a day. Other locations have attendants on duty from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.
Wichita County northbound
Location
- US 287 - Northbound, west of Iowa Park.
- Latitude/longitude: 33.9659, -98.7084
Wichita County southbound
Location
- US 287 - Southbound, west of Iowa Park.
- Latitude/longitude: 33.9657, -98.7201
Features
- Air-conditioned lobby and restrooms.
- Men's and women's restrooms.
- Diaper changing stations.
- Picnic tables.
- Drinking water.
- Security surveillance.
- Family/assisted restroom.
- Storm shelter.
- Handicap access.
- Vending machines.
Trivia
- Reconstructed facility opened in Summer 2022. The new building design is a modern version of a dogtrot, a historical wood house type consisting of two rooms of equal size separated by a breezeway, found in the transitional Crosstimbers and Rolling Plains ecoregions of Wichita Falls area. The new design also has a butterfly roof, intricated brickwork, and clerestory windows to bring natural light into interior spaces.
- The county was named for the Wichita Indians, who migrated to the area from present Kansas and Nebraska in the middle 18th century. The county's recreational opportunities include Lake Arrowhead State Recreation Area and other area lakes including Lake Wichita located just south of City of Wichita Falls.
- Sheppard Air Force Base, located just a few miles north of the City of Wichita Falls, is home to the Air Force's largest training wing: the 82nd Training Wing (82 TRW). The base also is home to the 80th Flying Training Wing (80 FTW) which conducts the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training (ENJJPT) program, the only multinationally staffed and managed flying training program chartered to produce combat pilots for both USAF and NATO.