I’ve never been to a spot that had so many Pilot Travel Centers, so the upside here at Walcott out in the middle of that long stretch of Iowa when you think that the endless flat horizon won’t present something new, is that when you get off on the Walcott exit looking for the Pilot Travel Center, no matter which direction you go you will find it.
Should you head south on N. Plainview Road/ Y40, you will find Pilot Travel Center #43 and if you instead head north you’ll come across its twin sister, Pilot Travel Center #268. Now here’s the question– are they really identical? As an identical twin myself, I will be quick to say no. So let’s get into what makes these 2 similar but altogether different.
While both of these roadside pitstops are in fact called Pilot Travel Center, the one to the south is a decent sized smaller, particularly if you have a rig, RV or 5th Wheeler, but that said, it was definitely less crowded than its somewhat larger counterpart to the north, which behind the Pilot Travel Center storefront, there was a massive football field-sized paved hanger lot absolutely jam-packed with easily 60-70 semi rigs. So, likely the two biggest questions when deciding between these locations will be – which has more space / availability and which isn’t too full?
Although both have very similar roadside markets inside their main retail operations, the one to the north is larger and comes with a PJ Fresh Marketplace. Another point to consider is that the Pilot Travel Center to the south has a Subway embedded in it, while the one to the north has an Arby’s attached. I’m not sure if that is a decision-maker or breaker for anyone, but if it is, perhaps the coin toss here would again go to the location in the south, which also has a McDonald’s just a short walk from the Pilot Travel Center, which doubles your pedestrian dining options. While definitely either a much longer walk or a short drive, in the north, just due south of the Pilot is Grammas Kitchen Checkered Flag, which is like an old-fashioned family restaurant with Midwestern comfort food.
While we’re on the subject of food, the northern Pilot option is where you will also find ALL of the only other restaurants, because that’s where the monstrous Iowa 80 Truck Stop, which you will either absolutely delight in, as it is apparently the largest truck stop in the world (which I did not have time to verify for this particular review) or it will scare you to death given the size, hustle & bustle as well as sheer over-crowdedness, not to mention, the endless roadside tchotchkies that your kids will want to bring home! As for the additional restaurants here, they include: Iowa 80 Kitchen, Chester’s Chicken, Blimpie, Wendy’s, Caribou Coffee and Pizza Hut Express.
Upon closer inspection, both Pilot Travel Centers offer the following: Diesel lanes, showers, diesel mobile fueling, premium WiFi, ATM, cash checking, money ordering, DEF Lanes, truck parking spaces, lottery and game rooms. The Pilot Travel Center in the north is further differentiated with prime parking spaces (which just means you can call ahead to reserve a spot, but will have to pay $16/ night), CAT Scale, cylinder propane and, likely the only thing that really matters for someone with an RV / 5th Wheeler: on-site laundry. Additionally, while both have shower stalls, the one to the south just has 3, while the one to the north has 8. There’s also what looks to be a full-service automotive mechanical repair shop for big rigs as well as an oversized deluxe auto washing station with several bays for oversized trucks and rigs.
If you are looking for anything else of interest around here, there’s of course the Iowa 80 Trucking Museum, which I have to admit, doesn’t sound like much fun at all, so for anything more substantial, head due east to the Quad Cities. Or, if it’s some nature you are searching for, head due south to Wildcat Den SP, which is as far south as you can get in this part of Iowa before hitting the mighty Mississippi.
Happy Overnighting!
