The Dicker Wald, the thick forest, is a good name for a place where a Roman fortlet once stood among trees. The fortlet was a small post on the Wetterau Limes, the frontier line that curves around the plain north of Frankfurt, and it sat just inside woodland that still covers much of the hill. What you find today are low earthworks and the outline of a small enclosure, but the surrounding forest gives a good sense of the lonely, damp setting soldiers would have known. The Limes was a frontier of watchtowers, small forts and larger garrisons, all linked by a path and a palisade.
The larger fort at Butzbach, only about 4 km away, was one of the main garrisons on this stretch, and the town has a museum and a well-preserved medieval centre with half-timbered houses and a market square. Butzbach has around 25,000 people and has fuel, supermarkets, bakeries and restaurants, so it is the natural base, as the town was a Roman garrison place. Langgöns and Rockenberg, closer to the forest, are smaller villages with a few shops.
The surrounding countryside lies at the foot of the Taunus, where fertile farmland gives way to wooded hills. Roads here are quiet and well surfaced, with gentle curves through fields and woods, and the climbs are modest. The A5 motorway runs close by, and its traffic noise can be heard in places, though minor roads are peaceful. This is not dramatic riding, but a pleasant, easy circuit that fits the spirit of a frontier trail, and the light through the beech leaves in spring is lovely.
The German Limes was inscribed by UNESCO in 2005, and this area is a good place to see how the frontier worked on the ground. Look out for signs along forest tracks, and bring a map or a phone with offline data, since the woods are large and signal can drop. In autumn mushrooms appear and the forest floor is thick with leaves. Wild boar and roe deer live in the woods, and you may see signs of them. A slice of apple cake and a coffee in Butzbach will make a good ending to a short, quiet outing.