Why this ride
A 163 km round trip from Wachtberg - roughly 3 h 15 in the saddle. On the way it passes Watchtowers WP 1/1 to 1/2, Watchtower WP 1/51, Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a and back through Watchtower WP 1/51.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof and Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 163 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 15
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof
There is very little to see at first glance here, which is exactly what makes the place oddly moving. South of Bonn, in the edge of the Kottenforst near the Heiderhof quarter of Bad Godesberg and the town of Wachtberg, the forest floor hides the faint outlines of Roman practice camps. Legionaries stationed at the fortress of Bonna on the Rhine marched out here to train at the hard, boring work that won the empire its wars: digging ditches, throwing up earth ramparts and laying out a camp to the standard plan in a few hours. A handful of these training camps in the Kottenforst are part of the Lower German Limes, the Roman frontier along the Rhine recognised by UNESCO in 2021.
Read the complete Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 1/1 to 1/2.
2. Watchtowers WP 1/1 to 1/2
This is where it all begins, or ends, depending on which way you are walking. At Rheinbrohl, on the east bank of the Rhine between Bonn and Koblenz, the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes left the river and struck out across country, running more than five hundred kilometres to the Danube near Regensburg. The first watchtowers, numbered 1/1 and 1/2, stood here near the river, and the line can be followed into the hills from the edge of the village. The whole frontier is part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire, and Rheinbrohl has a modern museum, the RömerWelt, which brings the frontier to life with reconstructions, exhibits and hands-on activities.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/1 to 1/2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 1/1 to 1/2 comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtower WP 1/51.
3. Watchtower WP 1/51
The Upper Germanic Limes does not start with a bang. Near Bendorf, on the slopes where the Westerwald drops toward the Rhine at the Neuwied basin, it is a matter of reading the woods: a low bank here, a shallow ditch there, and the spot where a Roman watchtower once stood, numbered by archaeologists as WP 1/51. The towers were placed within sight of each other, timber at first and later stone, so that a signal could pass along the frontier faster than any rider. Standing here among the beech trees you are close to the northern end of a border that ran more than five hundred kilometres to the Danube.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/51 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 55 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtower WP 1/51. Next is Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a.
4. Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a
Two thousand years ago, the frontier of the Roman Empire in Germany began right here. The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes, a line of watchtowers, forts, palisades and ditches stretching more than five hundred kilometres to the Danube, started on the right bank of the Rhine at Rheinbrohl, and the watchtowers numbered WP 1/1 and onwards marched away from the river into the wooded hills. This little section between Rheinbrohl and Bad Hönningen is the very beginning of the line, part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site.
Read the complete Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtower WP 1/51.
5. back through Watchtower WP 1/51
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/51 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 1/51 sits at 107 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 1/1 to 1/2.
6. back through Watchtowers WP 1/1 to 1/2
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/1 to 1/2 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 1/1 to 1/2 comes up about 135 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof.
7. Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof closes the day.
Leg by leg
Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof to Watchtowers WP 1/1 to 1/2
Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof → Watchtowers WP 1/1 to 1/2 is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 1/1 to 1/2 to Watchtower WP 1/51
Watchtowers WP 1/1 to 1/2 → Watchtower WP 1/51 is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 1/51 to Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a
Watchtower WP 1/51 → Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a to back through Watchtower WP 1/51
Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a → back through Watchtower WP 1/51 is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 1/51 to back through Watchtowers WP 1/1 to 1/2
back through Watchtower WP 1/51 → back through Watchtowers WP 1/1 to 1/2 is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 1/1 to 1/2 to Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof
back through Watchtowers WP 1/1 to 1/2 → Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.