Why this ride
A 207 km round trip from Hengstdal - roughly 4 h 19 in the saddle. It goes by way of Till, Fort Pannerden, Kalkar-Kalkarberg and back through Fort Pannerden. It crosses from Netherlands into Germany - carry ID and check the toll rules.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Nijmegen-Kops Plateau | West and Kalkar-Kalkarberg
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 207 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 19
- 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. Nijmegen-Kops Plateau | West
Go west from Nijmegen along the river and you are following the northern frontier of the Roman Empire. The Lower German Limes ran for about four hundred kilometres along the Rhine, from near Bonn to the North Sea at Katwijk, and for roughly three hundred years it marked the edge of the empire. It was never a wall. It was a line of forts, watchtowers, roads, harbours and ports along a river, defended by auxiliary troops and patrolled by boat, and almost all of it lies buried under fields, villages and dikes. In 2021 it was added to the World Heritage list.
Read the complete Nijmegen-Kops Plateau | West write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Nijmegen-Kops Plateau | West is where the day begins. Next is Till.
2. Till
The Lower Rhine around Kalkar and Kleve is wide, flat country: green polders, willows along drainage ditches, brick farmhouses and church spires visible for miles. Till is a small village here, part of Bedburg-Hau, just off the Rhine embankments between Kalkar and Kleve, with Emmerich across the river. It lies close to the line of the Roman frontier, the Lower German Limes, which followed the Rhine to the North Sea.
Read the complete Till write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Till comes up about 33 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fort Pannerden.
3. Fort Pannerden
Right where the Rhine enters the Netherlands and splits in two, the Dutch put a fort. Fort Pannerden was built around 1870 at the point where the river divides into the Waal, flowing west toward Nijmegen and Rotterdam, and the Pannerdens Kanaal, which feeds the Nederrijn and the IJssel. Control the split, and you control how much water goes where, which in a country defended by deliberate flooding mattered enormously. The fort, a low, heavy brick and earth structure surrounded by a moat, guarded the dykes and sluices that could send water into the defensive lines further west. It is counted among the Dutch Water Defence Lines listed by UNESCO.
Read the complete Fort Pannerden write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 64 km into the recorded legs you reach Fort Pannerden. Next is Kalkar-Kalkarberg.
4. Kalkar-Kalkarberg
Near the Dutch border, where the Rhine flows through wide meadows and dyked farmland, the small town of Kalkar holds a surprising amount of history. The Kalkarberg is a low rise near Altkalkar, and on it stood the Roman fort of Burginatium, one of the posts along the Lower German Limes, now part of the UNESCO-listed Frontiers of the Roman Empire. The rise would have given a valuable view over the river plain, and the fort controlled the road between Xanten and Nijmegen. Today it is fields and trees, but the shape of the land still hints at the old fortification.
Read the complete Kalkar-Kalkarberg write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kalkar-Kalkarberg, about halfway. Next is back through Fort Pannerden.
5. back through Fort Pannerden
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort Pannerden write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Fort Pannerden sits at 122 km, about halfway. Next is back through Till.
6. back through Till
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Till write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Till comes up about 175 km into the recorded legs. Next is Nijmegen-Kops Plateau | West.
7. Nijmegen-Kops Plateau | West
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Nijmegen-Kops Plateau | West write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Nijmegen-Kops Plateau | West closes the day.
Leg by leg
Nijmegen-Kops Plateau | West to Till
Nijmegen-Kops Plateau | West → Till is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Till to Fort Pannerden
Till → Fort Pannerden is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort Pannerden to Kalkar-Kalkarberg
Fort Pannerden → Kalkar-Kalkarberg is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kalkar-Kalkarberg to back through Fort Pannerden
Kalkar-Kalkarberg → back through Fort Pannerden is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort Pannerden to back through Till
back through Fort Pannerden → back through Till is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Till to Nijmegen-Kops Plateau | West
back through Till → Nijmegen-Kops Plateau | West is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.