Fort site and civil settlement of Rückinge and Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP · 287 km from Erlensee
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
287 km
Riding-time estimate
3 h 25
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.
From Erlensee it runs 287 km to Erlensee; allow about 3 h 25 of riding. The stops in between: Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor, Fort site and civil settlement of Arnsburg, Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP and back through Fort site and civil settlement of Arnsburg. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Scenic road chapters
German Fairy Tale Route
For about 28 km this is German Fairy Tale Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it — expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
Chapter facts
Length
28 km
Named road
German Fairy Tale Route
Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor → Fort site and civil settl
26 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it. Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through.
Chapter facts
Length
33 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Fort site and civil settlement of Rückinge
East of Frankfurt, on the low ground where the Kinzig valley opens toward Hanau, the Romans pushed their frontier forward in the late first century AD. Rückingen, today a part of Erlensee, was the site of a fort with a civil settlement around it, part of the Wetterau section of the Upper German-Raetian Limes, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Limes here ran south toward the Main, and the forts guarded crossings and roads leading into the Roman province. As with most of the frontier in this area, there is little to see above ground, but the line of the Limes is marked and explained along cycle and walking routes.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fort site and civil settlement of Rückinge is where the day begins. Next is Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor.
2. Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor
The Wetterau is a broad, fertile basin north of Frankfurt, a land of rich loess soils, wheat fields, orchards and old villages, and the Romans wanted it badly. Their frontier, the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes, bulged out here to take in the whole basin, looping around it in a wide arc. At Ober-Florstadt stood a fort with a civilian settlement beside it, where soldiers' families, traders and craftsmen lived. Today little is visible, but the site is part of the World Heritage frontier, and information boards help to picture the scene.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor comes up about 28 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Arnsburg.
3. Fort site and civil settlement of Arnsburg
Arnsburg confuses people, and for good reason. The name belongs first to a Cistercian monastery in the Wetter valley near Lich, whose roofless Gothic church stands in a meadow as one of the most romantic ruins in Hesse. But on the wooded hill nearby lies an older layer: a Roman fort on the Limes, sometimes called the Alteburg, with its civil settlement, and the frontier itself running past on its way around the northern edge of the Wetterau.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 61 km into the recorded legs you reach Fort site and civil settlement of Arnsburg. Next is Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP.
4. Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP
On the western side of the Taunus, the hills are lower and the forest gives way more often to farmland, with villages in the folds of the valleys. Idstein, a small town with a remarkable old centre, sits on this side, with Waldems and Glashütten nearby. Through the woods above them ran the Roman frontier, and the stretch of watchtowers numbered WP 3/24 to 3/40 followed the ridges here, part of the Upper Germanic Limes and of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire site.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Arnsburg sits at 151 km, about halfway. Next is back through Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor.
6. back through Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor comes up about 255 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Rückinge.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fort site and civil settlement of Rückinge closes the day.
Leg by leg
Fort site and civil settlement of Rückinge to Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor
Fort site and civil settlement of Rückinge → Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor to Fort site and civil settlement of Arnsburg
Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor → Fort site and civil settlement of Arnsburg is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Arnsburg to Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP
Fort site and civil settlement of Arnsburg → Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP is 89 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP to back through Fort site and civil settlement of Arnsburg
Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP → back through Fort site and civil settlement of Arnsburg is 71 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Arnsburg to back through Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Arnsburg → back through Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor to Fort site and civil settlement of Rückinge
back through Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor → Fort site and civil settlement of Rückinge is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.