Coalinga Avenal Safety Roadside Rest Area

This place only gets three stars because it did not have very many snack machine options but also it had no baby changing tables! How is that possible!!! It has a good pet area but no place for me to change my kids, I had to do it on a picnic table outside.

Honestly, if you’re on a road trip to anywhere, you need to stop here. This particular rest area is probably the cleanest rest area’s you’ll come across.
Though, I’ll knock a star off though because none of their hand dryers work for some odd reason.

Men and women’s bathrooms clean and well stocked. Grounds clean and tidy. What more can you ask for? There was even a little green grass!

Horribly filthy dirty woman’s room on Sunday afternoon Oct 4^th. Awful. Tons of flies, no TP, and blood and trash on floors in stalls.

The vending machines are broken. Otherwise it is a clean, big, awesome facility. Beware of the vending machines next to men’s restroom. I lost at least a few bucks there because the machine didn’t give correct change and just took my money.

Sure, it’s just a rest stop. But how many times do you always tell yourself, eww… I rather go to a Starbucks or McDonalds? Well, wonder no more because this rest stop puts all other rest stops to shame (At least at the moment) along the 5 freeway. I’ve been to many rest stops between here LA and SF as I’ve probably stopped at every one of them. (NO, not kidding!)
It does not smell, It has soap, and floors are not yucky.
This one totally takes the cake. I just do my business and leave but yes there is a grass areas, there are benches, there are vending machines too! All they really need to do is to have someone serve up some Tacos and Beers and I wouldn’t leave at all!
But really, make note to stop here for a clean getaway!

Is it possible to hype up a rest area? I think so. Granted Hawaii doesn’t have a lot of rest areas to compare to (if any) but I didn’t think this one was all that amazing. We stopped here as our second rest stop on our way to Disneyland.
First off this place looked promising with all the truckers pulled over, sleeping it out. Also it must have been bring your old ford car to the rest stop day since there were a few old fords (like antique, excellent condition kind not the kind you give your teenage son so you don’t care when he wrecks it). There were a lot of older men (not creepy but old grandpa types) hanging out too. So all these signs were promising. However the restrooms had lots of flies buzzing around. If you don’t mind a handful of flies sharing the restroom then you’re good. The soaps and toilet paper were fully stocked. The person who said the hand dryers were good, was correct. They were fast and strong.
Overall I would think it’s 3.5 but I’ll round up for the sake that I believe other Unilocalers know what they’re talking about. I guess I can update once I’ve been to more than 3.

Exceptionally Clean Rest Stop With Lots Of Potties!
SITREP
I love to potty! I could potty all night long! Or in the words (almost) of Eddie Murphy, «I wanna potty all the time, potty all the time, potty all the time, unh unh unh» ;)
THE SETUP
You know it’s an awesome rest stop when it has tons of potties. And not only that, it has TWO men’s rooms and TWO women’s rooms, one on each side of the divide (the «divide» being something akin to an interior courtyard, under a roof, with tables to sit and relax at. Now THAT’s state bureaucrats using their noggin…(and not even the one they are sitting on!) :D
OTHER AMENITIES
* Vending Machines
* Picnic Tables scattered throughout the park like recreational area
* Water Fountain
* Bank of Pay Phones (hell, when’s the last time you saw a pay phone ANYWHERE?)
So when you need to make a stop along I-​5, it might as well be here where you can get «yer buzinez» taken care of.
THE LOWDOWN
A great rest stop near the community of Huron along the I-​5.

As thrilling as it can be to make the drive between NorCal and SoCal without stopping, sometimes it’s just too much! Screaming kids, having too much (water) to drink, and not getting enough sleep are just some of the many things that can make five hours of continuous driving a headache. Isn’t it nice to take a break every now and then?
Fortunately, the Coalinga rest area along I-​5 is right at the halfway point between NorCal and SoCal. This review is for the rest area on the northbound side of I-​5; the one on the southbound side is probably identical. Yes, there are two separate rest areas — it was probably cheaper than building an overpass!
The old cement building that used to be here (still visible on Google Street View) has been remodeled into a set of structures with aluminum siding. I liked the old look better — the new design looks kind of tacky, but at least it’s more spacious.
Here you’ll find double restrooms (two for men and two for women), each of them reasonably clean and having lots of stalls. There’s also plenty of lighting, a good amount of parking (for both cars and bigrigs), a pet area, drinking fountains, payphones (remember those?), and beverage and snack vending machines, including a gourmet coffee vending machine that was unfortunately broken when we stopped by here.
I must say, this place seems to be better maintained than the actual highway!
Main buildings:
Double restrooms:
Vending machines:
Covered picnic tables:
Actual payphones:

When it comes to traveling the length of California, either north to south or vice versa, Interstate 5 (I-​5) is the most commonly taken route to travel. Driving this long, monotonous, and boring freeway can really take a toll on any driver or passenger. Rest stops are few and far between, so when this rest station eventually appeared, my boyfriend and I couldn’t wait to stop and stretch our legs and use the facilities.
This place is pretty impressive with it’s huge covered rest area where the bathrooms are located and you can relax on benches protected from the direct sun or rain. There are also nice park like areas with picnic tables, green grass and shade trees. Vending machines are on the premises with a large selection of drinks and snacks.
The restrooms are clean, stocked and maintained. Everything is automatic from the self flushing toilets, sinks, hand soap, to the hand dryers. FYI: the hand blowers are extremely loud, so if you have a pace maker or faint of heart, be prepared!

On my first ever solo road trip without my husband. It was just my 8 year old son and mother driving down to So-​Cal. We stopped to here to use the restrooms. Being that my son usually does the buddy system with my husband or older brothers, this time we were on our own. I seen 2 women workers by the name of Veronica and Rita that happen to be cleaning a half of the men’s restrooms that were closed. I explained my circumstances (to say the least) they were very sweet, kind, understanding and let my son use the restroom. These were the cleanest restrooms on roadside I have ever seen. Thank you Veronica and Rita for making my 1^st road trip that much easier. God bless you and your family’s.