Why this ride
A 206 km round trip from Schelklingen - roughly 3 h 38 in the saddle. On the way it passes Ödenahlen, Schreckensee, Siedlung Forschner and back through Schreckensee.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ach Valley and Siedlung Forschner
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 206 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 38
- 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
Ödenahlen → Schreckensee
37 km on Ödenahlen → Schreckensee.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 37 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 38 km into the recorded legs. Next is Schreckensee.
3. 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
about 75 km into the recorded legs you reach Schreckensee. Next is Siedlung Forschner.
4. Siedlung Forschner
Long before the Federsee became a moor, it was a lake with villages along its edge, and the villagers built on wet ground. In the Bronze Age, people here set their houses on timber platforms and foundations at the water's edge, and as the lake slowly silted up, the waterlogged peat sealed their remains. Wooden posts, tools and pottery survived in astonishing condition. The Siedlung Forschner, named for the farmer on whose land it lay, is one of the excavated settlements, and it belongs to the group of prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps that UNESCO listed in 2011.
Read the complete Siedlung Forschner write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Siedlung Forschner, about halfway. Next is back through Schreckensee.
5. back through Schreckensee
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Schreckensee sits at 138 km, about halfway. Next is back through Ödenahlen.
6. 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 comes up about 167 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ach Valley.
7. 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
Ach Valley closes the day.
Leg by leg
Ach Valley to Ödenahlen
Ach Valley → Ödenahlen is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ödenahlen to Schreckensee
Ödenahlen → Schreckensee is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Schreckensee to Siedlung Forschner
Schreckensee → Siedlung Forschner is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Siedlung Forschner to back through Schreckensee
Siedlung Forschner → back through Schreckensee is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Schreckensee to back through Ödenahlen
back through Schreckensee → back through Ödenahlen is 35 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 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.