Iversheim and Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Iversheim

   Iversheim is a village in the valley of the Erft, at the northern edge of the Eifel, just downstream from the old spa town of Bad Münstereifel. It is known for one thing: a Roman lime-burning works, one of the best preserved in Europe. The Romans built a series of kilns here to burn limestone from the surrounding hills into quicklime, which was used to make mortar for the forts, towns and roads of the province of Lower Germany. The kilns were worked by detachments of soldiers from the Rhine legions, as inscriptions found on the site show.

   Read the complete Iversheim write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Iversheim is where the day begins. Next is Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5.

2. 2. Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5

   Between Bonn and the Eifel lies the Kottenforst, a broad, flat forest of oak, beech and hornbeam on the plateau of the Ville, once a hunting ground of the Electors of Cologne, who laid out long straight rides through the trees for their stag hunts. Hidden in the woods are the faint outlines of Roman camps, earthworks left by soldiers who trained or camped here when Bonn, then called Bonna, was the base of a Roman legion on the Rhine frontier. The site at Domhecken, in the northern part of the forest, is one of the components of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Lower German Limes, listed by UNESCO in 2021. Like many such sites, it is subtle, a low bank and ditch among the trees, but it adds a layer of history to a walk or a ride through the forest.

   Read the complete Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5 comes up about 25 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee.

3. 3. Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee

   The Kottenforst is a big, flat, rather mysterious forest on the plateau south-west of Bonn, crossed by long, dead-straight avenues laid out by the Electors of Cologne in the eighteenth century as hunting rides. The Bellerbuschallee is one of them, and walking or riding along it you pass oak and beech, wet hollows and the occasional deer. Under the trees, though, lie traces much older than the Electors: the low ramparts of Roman practice camps, where legionaries from Bonn learned to dig defences quickly. These camps form part of the Lower German Limes World Heritage listing inscribed in 2021.

   Read the complete Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 60 km into the recorded legs you reach Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee. Next is back through Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5.

4. 4. back through Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Kottenforst Nord | Domhecken 5, late in the day. Next is Iversheim.

5. 5. Iversheim

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Iversheim write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Iversheim. That is the ride.