Why this ride
A 249 km round trip from Klingenstein - roughly 3 h 55 in the saddle. On the way it passes Lone Valley, Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen, Watchtowers WP 12/39 and Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ehrenstein and Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 249 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 55
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Ehrenstein
Ehrenstein is a small district on the western edge of Ulm, in the Blau valley, where the little Blau river flows from its spring at Blaubeuren towards the Danube. In the 1950s and 60s, archaeologists found here the remains of a Neolithic village, built on the damp ground of the valley floor around six thousand years ago, with wooden houses, hearths and remarkably well-preserved organic material. The site is part of the World Heritage list of prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, though there is nothing to see above ground today.
Read the complete Ehrenstein write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ehrenstein is where the day begins. Next is Lone Valley.
2. Lone Valley
The Lone is a small river in the Swabian Jura, east of Ulm, that often vanishes underground in dry weather, slipping into the limestone and leaving its bed empty. Its quiet valley, flanked by wooded slopes and limestone cliffs, holds caves where some of the oldest figurative art in the world was found. In the Hohlenstein-Stadel cave, fragments of a figure carved from mammoth ivory were pieced together into the Lion Man, a being with a human body and a lion's head, around forty thousand years old. In the Vogelherd cave, tiny ivory animals, a horse, a mammoth, a cave lion, emerged from the sediment.
Read the complete Lone Valley write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Lone Valley comes up 29 km in. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen.
3. Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen
The largest Roman cavalry fort north of the Alps stood on the site of today's Aalen, in the eastern Swabian Jura. It was home to a regiment of a thousand horsemen, the ala II Flavia, the most prestigious cavalry unit on the Raetian frontier, and its walls enclosed a huge area, with barracks, stables, granaries and a headquarters building. Beside it grew a civilian settlement, with traders, craftsmen and families. Today the site is home to the Limesmuseum Aalen, one of the most important museums of the Roman frontier in Germany, with excavated foundations, reconstructions and a rich collection of finds. It is part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes World Heritage site.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
57 km in you reach Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen. Next is Watchtowers WP 12/39.
4. Watchtowers WP 12/39
Iggingen is a small village on the plateau above the Rems valley, a few kilometres east of Schwäbisch Gmünd, and like many villages in this part of Württemberg it has a Roman frontier running through its fields. The site labelled Watchtower WP 12/39 sits on the Raetian Limes, the stone wall that marked the edge of Roman Raetia, and from here the line runs eastwards towards Aalen, the largest Roman cavalry fort north of the Alps, now home to an excellent Limes museum.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 12/39 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 12/39, about halfway. Next is Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68.
5. Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68
The Roman frontier wall known as the Limes ran for more than five hundred kilometres across what is now southern Germany, from the Rhine to the Danube, and near Aalen it passed through the Kocher valley and over the hills of the Ostalb. Along its length, watchtowers were built at regular intervals, numbered by archaeologists in sequence: WP 12/60 to 12/68 are a group of tower sites near Hüttlingen, mostly now visible as low mounds or reconstructed foundations. The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes was inscribed by UNESCO in 2005 as part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68 sits at 115 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 12/39.
6. back through Watchtowers WP 12/39
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 12/39 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Watchtowers WP 12/39 comes up 143 km in. Next is back through Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen.
7. back through Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
172 km in you reach back through Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen. Next is back through Lone Valley.
8. back through Lone Valley
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Lone Valley write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Lone Valley, late in the day. Next is Ehrenstein.
9. Ehrenstein
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ehrenstein 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 249 km.
Leg by leg
Ehrenstein to Lone Valley
Ehrenstein → Lone Valley is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Lone Valley to Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen
Lone Valley → Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen to Watchtowers WP 12/39
Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen → Watchtowers WP 12/39 is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 12/39 to Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68
Watchtowers WP 12/39 → Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68 is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68 to back through Watchtowers WP 12/39
Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68 → back through Watchtowers WP 12/39 is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 12/39 to back through Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen
back through Watchtowers WP 12/39 → back through Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen to back through Lone Valley
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen → back through Lone Valley is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Lone Valley to Ehrenstein
back through Lone Valley → Ehrenstein is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.