Fort site and civil settlement of Grosskro and Fort Schrenzer
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
175 km
Riding-time estimate
2 h 26
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.
175 km from Großkrotzenburg to Großkrotzenburg, about 2 h 26 of riding. It goes by way of Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl, Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the, Fort Schrenzer and back through Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the. The line favours views over speed.
Scenic road chapters
German Fairy Tale Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 27 km this is German Fairy Tale Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
Length
27 km
Named road
German Fairy Tale Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Fort site and civil settlement of Grosskro
Großkrotzenburg sits at a turning point of the Roman frontier. Here, on the Main east of Frankfurt, the river border that ran north from Miltenberg came to an end, and the Limes turned away from the water to head north across the Wetterau toward the Taunus. A fort guarded the spot, with a civilian settlement, and parts of its walls and gate can still be traced in the old town, where the fort's outline is marked in the streets. The site belongs to the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire, and the local museum displays finds from the fort and the vicus.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fort site and civil settlement of Grosskro is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl.
2. Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl
Out here on the eastern rim of the Wetterau, between Altenstadt, Hammersbach and the Büdingen forest, the Roman frontier did something unusual. Having come over the Taunus and swung north around the fertile plain, the Limes turned and ran almost due south towards the Main, enclosing the Wetterau like a hand cupped around something precious. The towers numbered WP 4/82 to 5/8, along with small fortlets, guarded this eastern flank, and their remains lie in fields and woodland edges where only a shallow bank or a marker stone gives them away.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl comes up about 27 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the.
3. Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the
Echzell is a small town on the edge of the Wetterau with a very big Roman past. A large fort stood here, one of the main garrison points on the Upper Germanic Limes, and the civil settlement beside it grew into a busy town, with workshops, shops, baths and an inn for travellers. Little is visible above ground today, but the outline of the fort is known, and the watchtowers numbered 4/76 to 4/80 stretch away along the frontier line. The numbers belong to the old survey system, and the line of towers, ditch and palisade ran through fields that are now farmland.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 58 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the. Next is Fort Schrenzer.
4. Fort Schrenzer
Butzbach sits at the northern edge of the Wetterau, a broad, fertile plain north of Frankfurt, where the Taunus ends and the land opens out into fields of wheat, sugar beet and rapeseed. The Romans prized this land, and their frontier made a long detour around it, swinging east and then south to include the Wetterau within the empire. Near Butzbach, on the Schrenzer hill, they built a small fort, the Kastell Schrenzer, to guard the frontier where it left the Taunus and began its loop around the plain. The fort and the frontier nearby are part of the frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site, and the remains, low earthworks in the woods, can be visited on foot.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl comes up about 149 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Grosskro.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fort site and civil settlement of Grosskro closes the day.
Leg by leg
Fort site and civil settlement of Grosskro to Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl
Fort site and civil settlement of Grosskro → Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl to Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the
Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl → Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the to Fort Schrenzer
Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the → Fort Schrenzer is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort Schrenzer to back through Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the
Fort Schrenzer → back through Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the to back through Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl
back through Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the → back through Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl to Fort site and civil settlement of Grosskro
back through Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl → Fort site and civil settlement of Grosskro is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.