Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1 and Krefeld-Gellep

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1

   The Kottenforst looks like an ordinary Rhineland woodland of oak, beech and hornbeam, with walkers, joggers and the odd horse rider, but in the second half of the first century and beyond it was a training ground for the Roman army. In clearings of the forest, the legion stationed at Bonna, today's Bonn, built a series of temporary camps as exercises, digging ditches and raising ramparts to practise the rapid construction they would need in the field. The remains of these camps, faint earthworks under the trees, are included in the Lower Germanic Limes, which UNESCO listed in 2021. Am Weissen Stein is one of the northern groups.

   Read the complete Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1 is where the day begins. Next is Köln-Alteburg.

2. 2. Köln-Alteburg

   The Roman navy is not the first thing most people associate with Cologne, but for almost two centuries the Rhine fleet, the Classis Germanica, had its main base here at Alteburg, just south of the Roman city. The fort sat on a terrace above the river in what is now the leafy district of Marienburg, near Bayenthal, and from here warships patrolled the Rhine, carried supplies and soldiers, and kept watch on the frontier. The site belongs to the Lower Germanic Limes, listed by UNESCO in 2021, though today it lies mostly under villas, streets and gardens, with only traces and information boards to show where it stood.

   Read the complete Köln-Alteburg write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Köln-Alteburg comes up about 23 km into the recorded legs. Next is Dormagen.

3. 3. Dormagen

   Dormagen is not the sort of place that ends up on postcards, and it does not try to be. It is a working town of some sixty thousand on the left bank of the Rhine between Cologne and Düsseldorf, dominated on its northern side by a huge chemical park whose pipes and stacks glow at night. Yet the name itself comes from Roman times: Durnomagus was a fort on the Lower German Limes, the Rhine frontier that UNESCO listed in 2021, and a cavalry unit was stationed here to patrol the river and the road along it.

   Read the complete Dormagen write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 52 km into the recorded legs you reach Dormagen. Next is Krefeld-Gellep.

4. 4. Krefeld-Gellep

   Most people pass Krefeld-Gellep without a second thought, because the view is dominated by the harbour of Uerdingen, chemical works and Rhine barges. Yet this is one of the most important Roman and early medieval sites on the Lower Rhine. The Roman fort here was called Gelduba, and it belongs to the Lower German Limes, the frontier along the river that UNESCO recognised in 2021. Tacitus mentions Gelduba in his account of the Batavian revolt of 69 and 70 AD, when legions and rebels fought around the camp, and archaeologists have found traces of that violence in the ground.

   Read the complete Krefeld-Gellep write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Krefeld-Gellep, about halfway. Next is back through Dormagen.

5. 5. back through Dormagen

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Dormagen write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Dormagen sits at 127 km, about halfway. Next is back through Köln-Alteburg.

6. 6. back through Köln-Alteburg

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Köln-Alteburg write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Köln-Alteburg comes up about 165 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1.

7. 7. Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1 closes the day.