Why this ride
A 276 km round trip from Asselfingen - roughly 4 h 20 in the saddle. The stops in between: Ehrenstein, Ödenahlen, Olzreute-Enzisholz and Grundwiesen.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Lone Valley and Grundwiesen
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 276 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 20
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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. Lone Valley
The Lone is a small river in the Swabian Jura, east of Ulm, that often vanishes underground in dry weather, slipping into the limestone and leaving its bed empty. Its quiet valley, flanked by wooded slopes and limestone cliffs, holds caves where some of the oldest figurative art in the world was found. In the Hohlenstein-Stadel cave, fragments of a figure carved from mammoth ivory were pieced together into the Lion Man, a being with a human body and a lion's head, around forty thousand years old. In the Vogelherd cave, tiny ivory animals, a horse, a mammoth, a cave lion, emerged from the sediment.
Read the complete Lone Valley write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Lone Valley is where the day begins. Next is Ehrenstein.
2. Ehrenstein
Ehrenstein is a small district on the western edge of Ulm, in the Blau valley, where the little Blau river flows from its spring at Blaubeuren towards the Danube. In the 1950s and 60s, archaeologists found here the remains of a Neolithic village, built on the damp ground of the valley floor around six thousand years ago, with wooden houses, hearths and remarkably well-preserved organic material. The site is part of the World Heritage list of prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, though there is nothing to see above ground today.
Read the complete Ehrenstein write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ehrenstein comes up 30 km in. Next is Ödenahlen.
3. Ödenahlen
The Federsee basin in Upper Swabia is one of those landscapes that hides its importance. It looks like a flat expanse of reeds, wet meadows and woodland around a shrinking lake, but beneath the peat lie dozens of prehistoric settlements, preserved because the bog kept the oxygen out. Ödenahlen is one of these sites, a Neolithic village on the edge of the moor, and the Federsee settlements are part of the UNESCO Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps. Wooden floors, house walls, wheels and everyday objects have been excavated here, and some of the oldest wooden wheels in Europe come from this region.
Read the complete Ödenahlen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
61 km in you reach Ödenahlen. Next is Olzreute-Enzisholz.
4. Olzreute-Enzisholz
Some five thousand years ago, someone in Upper Swabia built a wheel out of a single maple plank, mounted it on an axle and used it to move loads across the soft ground near what is now Bad Schussenried. The wheel turned up during excavations at the moor settlement of Olzreute-Enzisholz and is among the oldest wheels ever found in Central Europe, dated to around 2900 BC. The settlement, a group of pile dwellings on the edge of a former lake, is one of the Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps listed by UNESCO in 2011, a transnational site across six countries.
Read the complete Olzreute-Enzisholz write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Olzreute-Enzisholz, about halfway. Next is Grundwiesen.
5. Grundwiesen
The Federsee is what remains of a much larger lake that filled the basin after the last ice age, and over thousands of years it silted up into a vast moor, one of the most important wetlands in southern Germany. Wet ground preserves things well, which is why this corner is a treasure chest for archaeology. People settled around the lake from the Stone Age on, building houses on timber foundations or on stilts, and the waterlogged soil has kept their wood, tools and even textiles in remarkable condition.
Read the complete Grundwiesen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Grundwiesen sits at 121 km, about halfway. Next is back through Olzreute-Enzisholz.
6. back through Olzreute-Enzisholz
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Olzreute-Enzisholz write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Olzreute-Enzisholz comes up 151 km in. Next is back through Ödenahlen.
7. back through Ödenahlen
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ödenahlen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
182 km in you reach back through Ödenahlen. Next is back through Ehrenstein.
8. back through Ehrenstein
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ehrenstein write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Ehrenstein, late in the day. Next is Lone Valley.
9. Lone Valley
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Lone Valley write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 276 km.
Leg by leg
Lone Valley to Ehrenstein
Lone Valley → Ehrenstein is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ehrenstein to Ödenahlen
Ehrenstein → Ödenahlen is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ödenahlen to Olzreute-Enzisholz
Ödenahlen → Olzreute-Enzisholz is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Olzreute-Enzisholz to Grundwiesen
Olzreute-Enzisholz → Grundwiesen is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Grundwiesen to back through Olzreute-Enzisholz
Grundwiesen → back through Olzreute-Enzisholz is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Olzreute-Enzisholz to back through Ödenahlen
back through Olzreute-Enzisholz → back through Ödenahlen is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Ödenahlen to back through Ehrenstein
back through Ödenahlen → back through Ehrenstein is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Ehrenstein to Lone Valley
back through Ehrenstein → Lone Valley is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.