After 45 years, the famous Boondocks Truck Stop off of I-35 in Iowa has closed down. But now, thanks to new owners, the beloved truck stop has a chance to live on.
Boondocks was built in 1973 by owners Bob and Miriam Welch. According to Bob, he picked the location because that’s where the highway used to end. Over the years, the highway was extended and the truck stop expanded. It grew to include a diner, a 30-unit motel, and a gift shop. Boondocks became so popular that they sold thousands of hats and T-shirts every year.
The truck stop is still mostly the same as it was in 1978 when the motel and gift shop were added. That’s one reason why Boondocks is so legendary amongst truckers – if you’ve driven OTR, you’ve probably parked in the same spots, eaten at the same diner, and drank the same coffee as all the other truckers who’ve stopped there in the past 40 years.
It’s also been home to trucking lore. Like the time in the ‘70s that a particularly nasty snowstorm closed down the highways. Boondocks stayed open. Stranded motorists banded together, and even State Patrol officers took turns making food and washing dishes. Three couples who met while stranded there ended up getting married.
Boondocks has fallen on hard times financially though. Like other mom and pop truck stops, they found it hard to compete with the big national chains. After a Flying J and a Love’s opened up nearby, business dried up. That along with Bob’s health issues and trouble finding employees meant it was time to close down.
When the truck stop went to auction, it was purchased by a California trucking company. Fresno-based Anyway Logistics purchased Boondocks for $500,000.
“Our plan is to reopen it and do the same thing they were doing before,” said Anyway’s president according to the Des Moines Register. “We will just clean up the property and bring it up to date.”
As for Bob and Miriam, they say they’re going to miss running the place.
“If it were up to me,” said Bob. “I’d open it up again on Monday.”
“It’s been a wonderful life,” said Miriam. “So, we just hope that whoever is going to take it on is going to enjoy this much as we have.”
Source: gobytrucknews, overdrive, kcci, radioiowa, kcci, whotv
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Good luck guys, you will be missed. Even as the California company reopens it. It will never have the same family feeling and care
California owners. I hope that they understand that Pork Tenderloins are very important to midwestern Truckers.
Forget about the tenderloins, it’ll be camel stakes.I know the new owners.They will probably use it as a company terminal.
Never even knew it was open. I’ve always seen a truck stop there but I’ve always gone to the flying j over there cuz it looked so run down that I thought it was closed and I’ve never even heard of it from anyone. That’s cool hope they get that place up and running nice!
GOOD! Glad it is reopening. I really do not like these large chains.
That’s great news! Glad to see it live on. I always love the old school stops.
Home cooked meals go a long way, most major truck stops don’t have the personal that can cook, waitress, or provide good service, those days have gone by the way side, the majority of the larger truck stops want you to buy their fuel grab a drink or sandwich and be on your way, don’t have a clue what this company plans to do exactly to this truck stop but maybe they will keep most it’s original roots and surprise the heck out of people
I drive OTR and a place like this is what I look for!! The others are slacking in cleanliness and are waaaaay over priced on snacks!!
It’s not the same it was the best little truck stop in Iowa eaten many good meals there they had to be the best
Hope the new owners keep the way it was and let you guys run it . it was always one of the top 3 places to stop at great food and employees alike I use to make it a point to wait to eat when I leave Kentucky not to eat untill I got to boonedocks cause I knew home cooking was coming my way. Best wishes and best of luck to you both you have certainly been a big family to me as well. Everett Hardin.
I ate a few meals there too. Glad to see somebody step up and keep it open.
Why not mention exactly where it is….I 35 in Iowa isn’t very helpful
Williams,Iowa
Exit 144 I believe it is on I-35 . that highway it sits on is the old hwy 20. The new 20 is about a half mile South of it and a large interstate exchange.
William’s, IA. There’s only one exit off of I-35 for William’s, and it has an exit/milepost # but I’ll be darned if I can tell you what it is!! I’ve been going in there since I can remember, so northbound or southbound, it’s like my truck just knows which exit to take!
It’s been hard watching it get “old” over the years, but no Flying J or Loves would EVER be my choice over this place.
Hopefully, it stays as close as possible to what it was in its glory days as a truck stop and doesn’t become a mirror image of all the “travel plazas” everywhere else. That would just be a shame.
I also want to agree with Country Top, a few comments up from here… midwesterners DO LOVE a good pork tenderloin! Not some frozen jobber, microwaved & sold from a warmer case… but a BOONDOCKER!! Tender, moist & big enough to cut off the excess around the bun & make a 2nd one for later!!! Yummmm!
***Good luck to the previous owners… you will be missed. Thanks for the memories throughout the years.
**Good luck to the new owners and remember… IF YOU BUILD IT (right) WE WILL COME. If you turn it into a new style “travel plaza”…we have no reason to stop there after the 1st try.
It’s not so much the fuel end of the truck stop that had me stop. It was ALWAYS the restaurant. As far as I’m concerned that pilot across the highway can have the fuel, but they will NEVER beat Boondocks’ restaurant. Even if that small trucking company never brings back the fuel, it’ll be the homemade food in a real sit down, pour you a cup of coffee, bring you fresh hot food while you read a good book or visit with other patrons that will always be what appeals to us drivers.
Same thing happened in Tulsa. The quik trip bought out the truck stop and its great café. Tore it all down and opened a useless quik trip “truck stop” . Just another gas station with truck parking.
ABSOLUTELY!! Well said!
I stayed at the J across the Interstate last week. Williams, Iowa
Been driving for 42 years now I just want a real sausage biscuits without a price tag of $3.99
It’s that SMALL ROUND MEAT CIRCLE that COST $3.99+ CHEESE..
NOT SO MUCH that BISCUIT that it’s between.. $3.99🤑😉🤑🤑 best price 4 TRUCKERS😉
Been stopping there since the early 80’s. Loved it. The last 2 times we stopped in the food and service had went down. I hope the food and service stop up like it once was. Good luck to the new owners. Mr. and Mrs. Welch you are missed
It’s been a wonderful 30 years of stopping in.
It was like coming home to a real meal with friends and family and just sitting around telling story’s before bed. We loved ya here in Canada to.
Had many a meal there over the years. ☕️
They gonna open up a new T/A truck stop!!
This place will b missed
always good homemade food..breakfast / dinner.
I had been stopn for years.
since 2002..
just another good ole truckstop in the USA that leaves this ever changing
Industry with fewer and less
places with good authentic
hospitality.
Been driving 18 years i prefer the mom and pops stopped at one now i give them as much of my business as i can
I’ve been over the road 31 years, I can’t remember ever stopping there one time. I probably did, but it must not have been memorable. What city is it close to? It sounds like a rancid hole Inna wall. Sorry, not interested.
Been stoppin there for years.. 40 years in this industry.. these younger drivers dont know what thier missin .. sittin down to eat …shootin the brease with fellow drivers. Home cooked food… thanks for the great memories.. the best to both off you…J.C. Stromwall…Crazy Acres Transportation…
What ever. Then you can eat ALL the $3.99 press together so called stuff you can handle sir..
Lord have mercy on a boy from down in the boondocks.
Billy Joe Royal Shoot Yeahhhhhhh,makes you wander if he put that town in that song……
I have put here for the last 40 some years and I have seen the old truck stops slowly disappear and do miss them I don’t care that much for the big chain truck stops half to see maybe some mom and pops truck still be around
I’m from the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. I’ve been driving 29 and a half years now. About five years ago they shut down the old Family Truck Stop atop Monteagle Mountain just southeast of Nashville Tennessee. Loves bulldozer it. I used to run Coast to Coast through Arizona many years ago. I hope the Triple-T truckstop just east of Phoenix is still there. That’s always been a favorite truck stop watering hole of mine too. I used to hit the one in Barstow California. Now that I think about it. There was another favorite family mom and pop truck stop I believe it was called Truck Town. Just west of Bannon scales in Fontana,CA. It’s been many years since I’ve been back that way. I wonder if that truck stop is even there anymore? It saddens me so me to see them go.
Triple T is still there.
I came off the road almost 20 years ago and remember it, vaguely. I stopped in and remember it was different from the national chains. Always nice to have that nonrobotic feel. Glad to hear it will reopen. Was sad to see it go.
stopped in there once because I was making a delivery down the road a bit . It was a great place to stop at the time but I think they are going to have problems staying open if they can’t compete with Flying J or Loves . Wouldn’t it be nice if they shut them two down .