Limessection between watchtowers WP 13/40 and Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
164 km
Riding-time estimate
2 h 59
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.
From Wassertrüdingen it runs 164 km to Wassertrüdingen; allow about 2 h 59 of riding. The stops in between: Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a, Watchtowers WP 12/69 to 12/85, Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59 and back through Watchtowers WP 12/69 to 12/85. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Scenic road chapters
Romantic Road
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 25 km this is Romantic Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
Length
25 km
Named road
Romantic Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Limessection between watchtowers WP 13/40
In the rolling country of Middle Franconia, between Gunzenhausen and Wassertrüdingen, the Raetian Limes ran as a stone wall rather than a wooden palisade. Local people later called its remains the Teufelsmauer, the Devil's Wall, believing no human could have built such a long barrier. The section near watchtower WP 13/40, close to Arberg and Ornbau, is part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes World Heritage Site, and in places a low bank of stones in the fields and woods still marks the line.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Limessection between watchtowers WP 13/40 is where the day begins. Next is Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a.
2. Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a
In the fields near Wilburgstetten, in the west of Franconia, a low ridge runs across the landscape, overgrown with grass and bushes. It looks like nothing much, but it is the remains of the Raetian Limes, the stone wall that marked the frontier of the Roman province of Raetia in the second and third centuries. Unlike the Upper German Limes to the north west, which was mostly a palisade and ditch, the Raetian section was eventually built as a continuous stone wall, more than a hundred and sixty kilometres long. Local people later called it the Teufelsmauer, the Devil's Wall, believing it could only have been built by supernatural forces. The section between watchtowers here is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a comes up about 25 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 12/69 to 12/85.
3. Watchtowers WP 12/69 to 12/85
In the forests near Ellwangen the Roman frontier changes character. Here the Upper Germanic Limes, with its timber palisade and ditch, meets the Raetian Limes, which the Romans eventually built as a stone wall, and the stretch of watchtowers numbered 12/69 to 12/85 runs through the farmland and woods east of the Jagst. Archaeologists number the towers with slashes and digits, which makes them sound like spare parts, but each one was a small stone or timber post with a few soldiers watching the border, passing signals along the line. Together they form part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 53 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 12/69 to 12/85. Next is Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59.
4. Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59
The Romans called it the edge of the world they cared about, and in the Rems valley east of Schwäbisch Gmünd you can still trace where they drew the line. A string of watchtower sites, numbered by archaeologists along the stretch between Mögglingen, Heuchlingen and Böbingen, marks the course of the Raetian Limes, the frontier that guarded the province of Raetia in the second and third centuries. Here the frontier was a stone wall, which later locals, puzzled by the long ruined bank, called the Teufelsmauer, the Devil's Wall.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a comes up about 139 km into the recorded legs. Next is Limessection between watchtowers WP 13/40.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Limessection between watchtowers WP 13/40 closes the day.
Leg by leg
Limessection between watchtowers WP 13/40 to Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a
Limessection between watchtowers WP 13/40 → Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a to Watchtowers WP 12/69 to 12/85
Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a → Watchtowers WP 12/69 to 12/85 is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 12/69 to 12/85 to Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59
Watchtowers WP 12/69 to 12/85 → Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59 is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59 to back through Watchtowers WP 12/69 to 12/85
Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59 → back through Watchtowers WP 12/69 to 12/85 is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 12/69 to 12/85 to back through Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a
back through Watchtowers WP 12/69 to 12/85 → back through Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a to Limessection between watchtowers WP 13/40
back through Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a → Limessection between watchtowers WP 13/40 is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.