Why this ride
230 km from Schelklingen to Schelklingen, about 3 h 51 of riding. The stops in between: Ödenahlen, Olzreute-Enzisholz, Grundwiesen and Schreckensee.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ach Valley and Schreckensee
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 230 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 51
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Grundwiesen → Schreckensee
34 km on Grundwiesen → Schreckensee.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 34 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Ach Valley
Below the village of Schelklingen the Swabian Jura gives up some of the oldest art in the world. In the caves of the Ach and Lone valleys, early modern humans carved ivory and bone about forty thousand years ago, among them a small female figure found in the Hohle Fels cave in 2008, which is among the oldest known sculptures of the human form. Flutes made from bird bone and mammoth ivory turned up too. UNESCO listed six of these caves in 2017 under the title of Caves and Ice Age Art of the Swabian Jura, and a museum in nearby Blaubeuren tells the story well.
Read the complete Ach Valley write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ach Valley is where the day begins. Next is Ödenahlen.
2. Ödenahlen
The Federsee basin in Upper Swabia is one of those landscapes that hides its importance. It looks like a flat expanse of reeds, wet meadows and woodland around a shrinking lake, but beneath the peat lie dozens of prehistoric settlements, preserved because the bog kept the oxygen out. Ödenahlen is one of these sites, a Neolithic village on the edge of the moor, and the Federsee settlements are part of the UNESCO Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps. Wooden floors, house walls, wheels and everyday objects have been excavated here, and some of the oldest wooden wheels in Europe come from this region.
Read the complete Ödenahlen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ödenahlen comes up about 42 km into the recorded legs. Next is Olzreute-Enzisholz.
3. Olzreute-Enzisholz
Some five thousand years ago, someone in Upper Swabia built a wheel out of a single maple plank, mounted it on an axle and used it to move loads across the soft ground near what is now Bad Schussenried. The wheel turned up during excavations at the moor settlement of Olzreute-Enzisholz and is among the oldest wheels ever found in Central Europe, dated to around 2900 BC. The settlement, a group of pile dwellings on the edge of a former lake, is one of the Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps listed by UNESCO in 2011, a transnational site across six countries.
Read the complete Olzreute-Enzisholz write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 61 km into the recorded legs you reach Olzreute-Enzisholz. Next is Grundwiesen.
4. Grundwiesen
The Federsee is what remains of a much larger lake that filled the basin after the last ice age, and over thousands of years it silted up into a vast moor, one of the most important wetlands in southern Germany. Wet ground preserves things well, which is why this corner is a treasure chest for archaeology. People settled around the lake from the Stone Age on, building houses on timber foundations or on stilts, and the waterlogged soil has kept their wood, tools and even textiles in remarkable condition.
Read the complete Grundwiesen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Grundwiesen, about halfway. Next is Schreckensee.
5. Schreckensee
The Schreckensee, the lake of terror, is a disappointingly peaceful place for such a dramatic name. It is a small kettle lake in the moraine country of Upper Swabia, between Ravensburg and Aulendorf, left behind when a block of glacial ice melted at the end of the last Ice Age. Its shores, now partly bog and reed bed, hide the remains of prehistoric settlements, and it is one of the German sites in the UNESCO listing of Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps. As at most of these sites, nothing is visible on the surface; the timbers and household waste lie preserved underwater and in the peat, waiting for future archaeologists.
Read the complete Schreckensee write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Schreckensee sits at 112 km, about halfway. Next is back through Grundwiesen.
6. back through Grundwiesen
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Grundwiesen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Grundwiesen comes up about 147 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Olzreute-Enzisholz.
7. back through Olzreute-Enzisholz
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Olzreute-Enzisholz write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 165 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Olzreute-Enzisholz. Next is back through Ödenahlen.
8. back through Ödenahlen
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ödenahlen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Ödenahlen, late in the day. Next is Ach Valley.
9. Ach Valley
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ach Valley write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 230 km.
Leg by leg
Ach Valley to Ödenahlen
Ach Valley → Ödenahlen is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ödenahlen to Olzreute-Enzisholz
Ödenahlen → Olzreute-Enzisholz is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Olzreute-Enzisholz to Grundwiesen
Olzreute-Enzisholz → Grundwiesen is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Grundwiesen to Schreckensee
Grundwiesen → Schreckensee is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Schreckensee to back through Grundwiesen
Schreckensee → back through Grundwiesen is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Grundwiesen to back through Olzreute-Enzisholz
back through Grundwiesen → back through Olzreute-Enzisholz is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Olzreute-Enzisholz to back through Ödenahlen
back through Olzreute-Enzisholz → back through Ödenahlen is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Ödenahlen to Ach Valley
back through Ödenahlen → Ach Valley is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.