West of the Taunus ridge, where the high country rolls down toward the Rhine gorge and the Lahn, the line of the Upper German Limes runs through farmland and forest near the villages of Holzhausen an der Haide, Katzenelnbogen and Nastätten. Archaeologists have catalogued the sites of the watchtowers along this stretch, numbered WP 2/35 to 2/48, and near Holzhausen are the remains of a stone fort, well preserved and easily visited, with its walls and gate outlines clear in the grass. The Limes here consisted of a palisade of wooden stakes, later backed by a ditch and bank, with watchtowers at regular intervals and forts a few kilometres behind. It formed the frontier of the Roman Empire for more than a century and a half.
The countryside is the Hintertaunus, a quiet, thinly populated upland of fields, meadows and beech forests, with small villages and little traffic. Katzenelnbogen, with its castle, gave its name to the medieval counts of Katzenelnbogen, a powerful family who controlled lucrative Rhine tolls and built castles along the river, including Burg Katz above St. Goarshausen. The Rhine gorge, part of the UNESCO Upper Middle Rhine Valley, with its castles, vineyards and the Loreley rock, is a short ride to the west.
The riding here is excellent. The roads across the Hintertaunus are quiet and winding, rolling over the hills through forests and fields with good surfaces and moderate gradients. The descent to the Rhine at St. Goarshausen or toward the Lahn valley at Nassau and Bad Ems offers steep, twisting roads with tight hairpins and great views. The B260, the Bäderstraße, running from Lahnstein toward Wiesbaden, is a well-known motorcycle route with many curves, though it is busy on weekends and has speed controls. Weather can be cool and damp on the high ground, and fog is common in autumn.
Holzhausen and Katzenelnbogen are small, with a few shops and inns, and Nastätten, a little larger, has fuel and more services. Bad Schwalbach, about twelve kilometres away, is the nearest town of more than ten thousand people. Local food includes hearty country dishes, and Rhine wines are close at hand. Stop at the fort near Holzhausen, walk around its walls, and imagine the soldiers who watched over the forests from here. Then ride down to the Rhine for a view of the castles.