Why this ride
144 km from Hüttlingen to Hüttlingen, about 3 h 23 of riding. On the way it passes Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for, Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12, Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo and Watchtower WP 13/54.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Fort site and civil settlement of Reinau-B and Watchtower WP 13/54
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 144 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 23
- 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
Romantic Road
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 18 km this is Romantic Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 18 km
- Named road
- Romantic Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Fort site and civil settlement of Reinau-B
Out here on the eastern edge of Württemberg, where the Jagst valley widens into rolling farmland below the Ellwangen hills, the Romans drew a line across the map and then built it in stone. The fort at Rainau-Buch, which the ride labels Reinau-B, sat just behind the Raetian Limes, the frontier that ran from the Rhine toward the Danube. What you find today is a grassy rectangle with low reconstructed wall footings, the outline of a bath house, and the traces of the civilian village that grew up outside the gate, where traders, families and off-duty soldiers lived the way garrison towns always do.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Reinau-B write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fort site and civil settlement of Reinau-B is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for.
2. Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for
Near Rainau, not far from here, the Romans built a monumental gate in the Raetian Limes, a showpiece entrance probably connected with a visit by the emperor Caracalla in the early third century. Today the Limestor Dalkingen is protected under a glass and steel shelter, an impressive sight. The watchtowers numbered in this section, around Stödtlen, Wört and Tannhausen, were part of the same frontier, which ran here as a stone wall across the hilly country between the Ries crater and the Swabian Forest, toward the Danube.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for comes up about 17 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12.
3. Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12
Along the Wörnitz valley in western Middle Franconia, near the village of Weiltingen, the line of the Raetian Limes cuts across the countryside, and the places where Roman watchtowers once stood are numbered by archaeologists in a dry sequence: WP 13/6, 13/7, and so on. In Raetia, the frontier was not a palisade, as in Upper Germany, but a stone wall about three metres high, and local people called its remains the Teufelsmauer, the Devil's Wall, believing that only the devil could have built something so long and straight. Today, you may see a low bank in a field or a line of trees following the old route, and in some places the foundations of towers have been marked or reconstructed.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 35 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12. Next is Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo.
4. Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo
The Raetian Limes ran across southern Franconia as a stone wall, and between Wassertrüdingen and Gunzenhausen it climbed over low hills and crossed the valleys of small rivers, with watchtowers at regular intervals. The group from WP 13/16 to 13/36 includes the sites of several towers and a fortlet, now visible as low mounds and foundations, sometimes with reconstructions, and they are part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes World Heritage listing. In the woods and fields, a line of stones or a slight bank may mark the course of the wall.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo, about halfway. Next is Watchtower WP 13/54.
5. Watchtower WP 13/54
Gunzenhausen is a small town in Middle Franconia, on the Altmühl river, and the Roman frontier ran right through it. Watchtower WP 13/54 stood within what is now the town, and the course of the frontier is traced through the streets. It is unusual to find the Roman frontier in an urban setting, and it is a nice surprise as you wander the streets.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 13/54 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 13/54 sits at 69 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo.
6. back through Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo 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 13/16 to 13/36 including fo comes up about 89 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12.
7. back through Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 111 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for.
8. back through Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for 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 12/86 to 13/5 including for, late in the day. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Reinau-B.
9. Fort site and civil settlement of Reinau-B
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Reinau-B 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 144 km.
Leg by leg
Fort site and civil settlement of Reinau-B to Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for
Fort site and civil settlement of Reinau-B → Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for to Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12
Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for → Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12 is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12 to Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo
Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12 → Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo to Watchtower WP 13/54
Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo → Watchtower WP 13/54 is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 13/54 to back through Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo
Watchtower WP 13/54 → back through Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo to back through Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12
back through Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo → back through Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12 is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12 to back through Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for
back through Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12 → back through Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for to Fort site and civil settlement of Reinau-B
back through Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for → Fort site and civil settlement of Reinau-B is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.