Fortlet Adolfseck and Fort site and civil settlement of Marienfe

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Fortlet Adolfseck

   The Aar is a small river that winds north from the Taunus towards the Lahn, through a narrow, wooded valley that has served as a route through the hills since ancient times. Where the Roman frontier crossed the valley near Adolfseck, today a district of Bad Schwalbach, the Romans built a fortlet to control the crossing, a small, square fortification with a garrison of a few dozen soldiers. The remains have been excavated and are marked on the ground, and the stretch of frontier nearby is part of the World Heritage frontiers of the Roman Empire. Above the valley, the ruins of a medieval castle, also called Adolfseck, add another layer of history.

   Read the complete Fortlet Adolfseck write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Fortlet Adolfseck is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 2/20 to 2/22.

2. 2. Watchtowers WP 2/20 to 2/22

   A few kilometres west of Miehlen, the Limes crosses the Einrich, a high, open plateau of fields and meadows between the Rhine and the Lahn, and the stretch with watchtowers 2/20 to 2/22, near Singhofen and Holzhausen an der Haide, is one of the quietest parts of the whole frontier. Nearby, the fort of Holzhausen is one of the best-preserved Roman forts on the Limes, with its stone walls, gates and corner towers clearly visible in the forest, a rare sight on a frontier where most remains have vanished into the fields. The whole line is part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 2/20 to 2/22 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Watchtowers WP 2/20 to 2/22 comes up about 25 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtower WP 1/77.

3. 3. Watchtower WP 1/77

   In the hills of the Westerwald, east of Koblenz, the Roman frontier ran from the Rhine up across the high ground towards the Taunus, and archaeologists have numbered every tower site along it. Watchtower WP 1/77, near the villages of Kadenbach and Arzbach, is one of them, now marked by a low mound or reconstructed foundations in the woods. The frontier here was a palisade of timber and later an earth bank and ditch, with towers every few hundred metres, and the whole system is part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes World Heritage listing.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/77 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 53 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtower WP 1/77. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Marienfe.

4. 4. Fort site and civil settlement of Marienfe

   Marienfels is a small village in the hills of the western Taunus, between the Rhine and the Lahn, and it sits on the site of a Roman fort and its civilian settlement, part of the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes World Heritage listing. The frontier wall ran through these hills, and the fort housed a garrison that guarded the frontier and the roads that crossed it. Little remains above ground, but excavations have revealed the outline of the fort and the settlement, with houses, baths and workshops.

   Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Marienfe 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 Marienfe, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtower WP 1/77.

5. 5. back through Watchtower WP 1/77

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/77 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Watchtower WP 1/77 sits at 99 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 2/20 to 2/22.

6. 6. back through Watchtowers WP 2/20 to 2/22

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 2/20 to 2/22 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 2/20 to 2/22 comes up about 144 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fortlet Adolfseck.

7. 7. Fortlet Adolfseck

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Fortlet Adolfseck write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Fortlet Adolfseck closes the day.