Kottenforst Nord | Dürrenbruch 2 and Neuss-Reckberg | Kleinkastell

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Kottenforst Nord | Dürrenbruch 2

   Southwest of Bonn, an old forest runs for miles across a low plateau, a place of oak and hornbeam, beech and quiet paths. The Kottenforst is one of the few big woods in the Rhineland, and the area known as Durrenbruch, on the northern side, is typical: flat, damp, shady, with wide forest roads, ditches, small ponds and a thick floor of leaf litter. Its name means dry marsh, a typically contradictory piece of German, and the ground really does flip between puddle and dust depending on the season.

   Read the complete Kottenforst Nord | Dürrenbruch 2 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Kottenforst Nord | Dürrenbruch 2 is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 1/37 to 1/38.

2. 2. Watchtowers WP 1/37 to 1/38

   Two numbered watchtower sites on the Roman frontier sit here in the Westerwald countryside above the Rhine, near the villages of Melsbach and Rengsdorf. The paired label is archaeologists' shorthand, because the Upper Germanic Limes was a chain of towers placed within sight of one another, a few hundred metres apart. These two were part of the line that ran from the Rhine near Rheinbrohl across the hills of Rhineland-Palatinate and on towards the Taunus, and the whole frontier is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed in 2005 as part of the larger Roman Limes complex.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/37 to 1/38 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Watchtowers WP 1/37 to 1/38 comes up about 79 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 203 km into the recorded legs you reach Neuss-Reckberg | Kleinkastell. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 1/37 to 1/38.

4. 4. back through Watchtowers WP 1/37 to 1/38

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/37 to 1/38 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 1/37 to 1/38, late in the day. Next is Kottenforst Nord | Dürrenbruch 2.

5. 5. Kottenforst Nord | Dürrenbruch 2

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Kottenforst Nord | Dürrenbruch 2 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 | Dürrenbruch 2. That is the ride.