Roman soldiers on this part of the frontier spent most of their time watching, and the towers that you can trace in the woods near Hillscheid are the evidence. Four tower positions follow one another here, each within sight of the next so that a fire or a flag could pass a message along the line in minutes, and a fortlet and the remains of a fort and civil settlement lie nearby, forming a small military zone around the Limes. This was the first stretch of the Upper Germanic frontier after it left the Rhine, so every day brought traders, patrols and tax collectors through the gap.
The towers began as simple timber structures, with a platform on four or six posts, a ladder, and a small hut for the garrison, and were later rebuilt in stone. Imagine the conditions: a handful of men in a damp forest, living on bread, bacon and local beer, with wind howling through the trees in winter. They were far from the Mediterranean sun that most had been born under, and some came from North Africa or Syria. Their lives left small traces, such as coins, pottery and iron nails, which archaeologists have found in the ground.
The landscape is the western Westerwald, on the edge of the Rhine valley, with hills of beech and oak and meadows between. To the south the Rhine at Koblenz is only a short ride away, where the Moselle joins it at the Deutsches Eck, a corner of land crowned with a monument that attracts crowds. In the other direction the hills become more rural, with orchards and small farms.
Riding here is relaxed and mildly twisty. Country roads link Hillscheid, Neuhäusel and Kadenbach through forest and farmland, with gentle gradients and good views, and the surface is generally fine, with occasional rough patches. Traffic is light on small roads and heavier near Koblenz and the motorway. Mist hangs in the valleys on autumn mornings, and the light after rain can be extraordinary.
Höhr-Grenzhausen, about four kilometres away, has fuel and shops, while the villages have a bakery or a pub. Bring a rain jacket, and allow time to walk a short section of the Limes trail.