Alpen-Drüpt and Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Alpen-Drüpt

   On the flat farmland of the Lower Rhine, between Alpen and Rheinberg, there is little to catch the eye: fields of maize and potatoes, poplars along ditches, brick farmhouses and the occasional windmill. Yet this was once the edge of the Roman world. The Rhine formed the frontier of the empire, and along its banks the Romans built legionary fortresses, forts, watchtowers and temporary camps. Alpen-Drüpt is one of the sites included in the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Lower German Limes, inscribed by UNESCO in 2021; like many on the list, it survives mainly below ground, known from aerial photographs and excavations rather than standing ruins.

   Read the complete Alpen-Drüpt write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Alpen-Drüpt is where the day begins. Next is Neuss-Koenenlager.

2. 2. Neuss-Koenenlager

   On the southern edge of Neuss, in a residential area near the Rhine, lies one of the most important Roman military sites in Germany, though you would hardly know it from the surface. This was Novaesium, a legionary fortress that housed thousands of soldiers for much of the first century, and it is known as the Koenenlager after Constantin Koenen, the local archaeologist who excavated it systematically in the late nineteenth century. His work revealed the layout of an entire legionary camp, with headquarters, barracks, granaries and a hospital, and it became a model for Roman military archaeology. The site is part of the Lower German Limes, listed by UNESCO in 2021.

   Read the complete Neuss-Koenenlager write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Neuss-Koenenlager comes up about 59 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1.

3. 3. Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1

   The Kottenforst looks like an ordinary Rhineland woodland of oak, beech and hornbeam, with walkers, joggers and the odd horse rider, but in the second half of the first century and beyond it was a training ground for the Roman army. In clearings of the forest, the legion stationed at Bonna, today's Bonn, built a series of temporary camps as exercises, digging ditches and raising ramparts to practise the rapid construction they would need in the field. The remains of these camps, faint earthworks under the trees, are included in the Lower Germanic Limes, which UNESCO listed in 2021. Am Weissen Stein is one of the northern groups.

   Read the complete Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 129 km into the recorded legs you reach Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1. Next is back through Neuss-Koenenlager.

4. 4. back through Neuss-Koenenlager

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Neuss-Koenenlager write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Neuss-Koenenlager, late in the day. Next is Alpen-Drüpt.

5. 5. Alpen-Drüpt

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Alpen-Drüpt write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Alpen-Drüpt. That is the ride.