The Jagst is a small, winding river in northern Württemberg, and between Jagsthausen and Möckmühl it runs through a valley of orchards, wooded slopes and half-timbered villages. The Roman frontier ran along this side of the river, and watchtowers 8/44 to 9/2 sit on the high ground above. They belong to the Upper German-Raetian Limes, inscribed by UNESCO in 2005, which here ran in a remarkably straight line for many kilometres, a feat of surveying that still impresses. The Romans needed to hold a rim of high ground and chose a line that ignored the little hills, which is why the old frontier looks like a ruler line across the map.
Jagsthausen has a more famous resident than any Roman. The castle on the edge of the village was the birthplace of Götz von Berlichingen, the imperial knight with an iron hand, whose name entered German literature through Goethe's play, and the castle hosts open-air performances in summer. The Roman fort at Jagsthausen once had substantial baths, and part of the layout can still be seen. Möckmühl has a handsome old town centre with an imposing gate, and with eight thousand people, a better supply of fuel and supermarkets.
The riding is lovely in a quiet way. The roads follow the river and cut across hills, with gentle gradients, good surfaces and little traffic outside the commuter hours around Möckmühl. In spring the fruit trees flower in pale drifts along the lower slopes, and in autumn the vineyard and orchard colours are rich. There are no long straights, but nothing is tight enough to demand your full concentration, and the whole district invites a gentle loop with a lunch stop. The Hohenlohe plain to the east has broader fields and wider views.
Regional food here is robust, with Schwäbisch Hall pork, noodles and spätzle, and fresh bread in village bakeries. If you stay for the evening, a glass of local Württemberg wine or cider makes sense. The watchtower stop itself is a small clearing with a sign. Take a minute, look down the line towards the next post, and picture the soldiers who lived in tidy stone-footed towers above a river valley not much different from this one.