Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1 and Neuss-Reckberg | Kleinkastell

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 Watchtowers WP 1/30.

2. 2. Watchtowers WP 1/30

   Rheinbrohl, on the Rhine, is where the Upper Germanic Limes begins, and from there it climbs the hills of the Westerwald and heads east and south for roughly 550 kilometres to the Danube. Watchtowers were numbered along the way, and WP 1/30 is one of the early ones, in the first section after the Rhine, in wooded country a couple of kilometres from the village of Melsbach. The Romans built the frontier in the second century, with timber towers first and stone later, and it marked the edge of their empire for around a century and a half.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/30 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Watchtowers WP 1/30 comes up about 80 km into the recorded legs. Next is Neuss-Reckberg | Kleinkastell.

3. 3. Neuss-Reckberg | Kleinkastell

   The Rhine was the northern frontier of the Roman Empire for centuries, and the string of forts, towers and camps along its western bank is now recognised as the Lower Germanic Limes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2021.

   Read the complete Neuss-Reckberg | Kleinkastell write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 204 km into the recorded legs you reach Neuss-Reckberg | Kleinkastell. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 1/30.

4. 4. back through Watchtowers WP 1/30

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/30 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 1/30, late in the day. Next is Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1.

5. 5. 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

   Back at Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1. That is the ride.