The Limes in the Swabian-Franconian Forest has a quality that surprises people who expect Roman walls to follow hills: it runs in a dead-straight line, for kilometres at a stretch, regardless of what stands in the way. Near Murrhardt the line dives through woodland and valleys, and the signposted watchtower sites mark points where a timber and later stone tower stood on the frontier, with a ditch and a palisade or bank beside it. The numbering, with its slash, comes from the nineteenth-century surveyors who first mapped the frontier, and archaeologists still use it.
Murrhardt itself is an attractive town in a green valley, founded around a Benedictine monastery whose origins go back to the Carolingian period, and there is a small museum of the Roman and early medieval history of the area, in a former abbey building. The Walterichskirche, a Romanesque chapel, has a strange, quiet charm. The surroundings are forested hills and narrow valleys cut by the river Murr, and the wooded country is dark and cool even in summer.
Roads in the area are a pleasure for riders. The minor roads through the Swabian-Franconian Forest climb and drop through beech and spruce, with a long series of medium-speed curves, occasional hairpins and good views from clearings, and the surface is usually decent, though damp and slippery under trees. Traffic is modest, but expect cyclists and walkers, especially on summer weekends. The best months are May to October, and in autumn the colours are superb, though leaves on the road need respect. Rain is frequent, so pack waterproofs.
Murrhardt, only two kilometres away, has fuel, shops, bakeries and cafés, and the neighbouring Kaisersbach and Oberrot have smaller services. The region is known for hearty Swabian dishes, including Maultaschen, a kind of large ravioli served in broth or fried with egg, and spaetzle with lentils. If you want to follow the Limes on foot, a marked trail leads along the frontier, and a short walk will give you a better sense of its straightness than any map.