This is a great place to get gas, buy some snacks, drinks, souvenirs and essentials! The store and…read morerestrooms are clean and shiny! There is also a great restaurant inside, "Boilerman Barbeque" that has fresh made foods and great service! There are tables and chairs to sit at and even a nice fireplace! Not like the other travel centers who only offer burgers and fast food! Iron Horse Travel Center in Merkel, TX is one of the absolute best travel centers/gas stations we have been to!

This is NOT a typical "careful-what-you-touch-because-you-might-catch-something" kind of gas…read morestation. When driving back and forth between West Texas and East Texas, our family plans the trip around THIS stop. They always have ultra clean restrooms and reasonable gas prices. They have fresh barbecue and special novelty snacks. (Yes, they've even got your spicy peaches and candied pecans!) If you're into picking up cool gifts or souvenirs, this place has a lot of those for every season. Cold drinks, coffee, chocolate, dog potty area, travel accessories... you name it... anything you need to make your trip more pleasant... they've got it. And I've never had a rude or negligent attendant/cashier.

They were very clean. Easy to get to while traveling. There are no seats on the toilet just the rim…read morebut that's ok still very clean when I was there. No paper towels but had air dryer but it was low powered. Would recommend. It looked like they had just cleaned the floors toilets and walls. Water fountains were strangely wrapped and taped up so they couldn't be used.

Great rest stop while driving on the busy highway to your destination! The restrooms were nice and…read moreclean and provided hand wash station and plenty of toilet paper. There were benches for picnics with shades and also had pavilions available for use! This location is just off the outskirts of Abilene, TX and there are signs directing you to exit off the highway! Great safe rest stop to relax your mind, eyes and brain and for you to get out of the car and walk a little!

Great stop! Beautiful and clean rest area! I love that the rest area is not only beautiful but, but…read morealso functional. The space inside is informative and has something for everyone! Info about surrounding areas and its history. There is great amounts of space to have a picnic , let the kids get their wiggles out and let our elders enjoy the history provided and nice sidewalks for them to stretch their legs! Free WIFI too!

If i could give more stars, I would. Hands down BEST rest stop I've ever been to and I've been to…read moremany. So clean, attendant on duty, exhibits to see, several vending machines. Did I mention clean. Perfect temperature inside.

Great facility. Love the architecture and landscaping. TXDot is doing these the right way and it's…read moreworth a stop. Lots of trucks

We had a great experience. For a rest area it was clean. It's air conditioned. It's a new facility…read more I would recommend it.

Service is good. Pizza is good and quick. The menu has several other options. Plus you can play…read morethe games while you wait for your order.

Clean and convenient store and restrooms. The casino is likewise clean and the machines aren't too…read moretight to make gambling there no fun.

Great clean stocked facilities! Covered playground for the kiddos. Benches and shade for families…read moreand resting! The staff are nice and friendly! Great place to stop and rest fully accessible for other abled people Watch out for snakes when the weather gets warm! It's Texas.

This is probably the nicest rest area I have ever visited…read more I was getting extremely sleepy after an early morning departure and drive from New Mexico. This rest area appeared just before we entered the heavy traffic of Fort Worth and Dallas. It was perfect location to change drivers, take care of business, and rejuvenate before tackling city traffic for the last two hours of our drive. Parking is divided into two sections. Cars are directed to one area, and big rigs to the opposite side. You never have to worry about walking near or navigating around large freight trucks. The rest area is so inviting. The gardens around the building have a lush green lawn, lots of shade trees, well manicured bushes, and beautiful flower borders throughout. It was a pleasure to walk my dog on the wide, paved sidewalks all around the property. We both thoroughly enjoyed stretching our legs while strolling through the shaded garden. There were several covered picnic tables where you could relax outside and have a snack. Grab food from one of the vending machines inside or bring your own meal with you. Inside the building was a small museum exhibit featuring a filling station and an old fashioned car from the early 1900s. It was a welcome respite to activate your mind after countless hours of staring at the flat, featureless plains and desolate Chihuahua desert. Bathrooms envy that of the famous Buccees has station. They are clean, well maintained, and plentiful. You will never have to wait in line here. There is an information desk at the facility. No one was sitting there when I was in the building, but there were clearly workers on the property working outside, They were wearing brightly colored reflective vests and smiled and said, "Hi!" when I walked by them. Free wifi was available here too. I didn't stay long enough to enjoy this, but I'm sure others appreciated it. This was a free government provided rest stop, but it rivaled any commercial entity out there because it was (1) FREE, (2) offered the services and facilities I needed, (3) clean, (4) beautiful, (5) relaxing, (6) rejuvenating, and (7) safe. I highly recommend this rest area to anyone passing through

Nice store, stocked with lots of unique snack options, priced decent enough for a gas station road…read moretrip pit stop. It had a clean ladies restroom.

We felt safe here. We stayed here May 1, 2025. It was comfortable to walk our dogs. Our only…read morecomplaint wasn't really a complaint. In fact, I heard quite the opposite on a Bob and Karri youtube video recently. My complaint was that you couldn't walk to the Love's Truck Stop store from the RV park. Bob and Karri's complaint for another Love's that they stayed at on the east coast was that they were too close to the Love's Truck Stop store. So I guess not everyone can be pleased. Anyway, the bathrooms and showers were clean and private. We'd stay here again.

I liked how it was a bathroom and it was easily accessible from the highway…read more Being it was a bathroom I didn't stop just to hang out. I was ready to leave when complete with my business.

So Bad! There were flies everywhere and the bathroom was disgusting! DO NOT GO THERE IF YOU DON'T…read moreHAVE TO!

I Love Love's Love's…read moreTravel Stops are always great stores, for truckers and regular car folk like myself. I have always enjoyed grabbing a soda here and just browsing through the merchandise. There's also a really wonderful Subway store inside. It's the best Subway I have ever been do.

I like Loves. Your rewards program is good. Free showers with a 50gal fill or if you hit 1000…read moregals they are unlimited for the next month. But I'd like to see more healthy items. And don't say subway is healthy. Let's get the sugar free items for diabetics. A bigger selection for vegans. Maybe some almond milk. Customer service was good at this location.