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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Oterswil / Insel Eielen and Schreckensee starting at Rotkreuz

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
348 km
Riding-time estimate
6 h 35
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.

Open this ride in CurveScout

Why this ride

From Rotkreuz it runs 348 km to Rotkreuz; allow about 6 h 35 of riding. The stops in between: Egelsee, Schreckensee and back through Egelsee. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,150 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses from Switzerland into Germany - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.

Scenic road chapters

Grand Tour of Switzerland

The ride follows Grand Tour of Switzerland for 80 km.

Chapter facts
Length
80 km
Named road
Grand Tour of Switzerland

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Oterswil / Insel Eielen

    Lake Zug is the quiet one among the central Swiss lakes, long and slender, with the Rigi rising steeply from its southern end and gentle farmland and orchards rolling down to its northern shores. Around its edges, as around many Alpine lakes, people built villages on the shore in prehistoric times, and the remains of these settlements at places like Oterswil and the little island of Eielen are among the sites of the transnational pile dwelling listing inscribed by UNESCO in 2011. Under water and mud, wooden piles, pottery and tools have survived for thousands of years.

    Read the complete Oterswil / Insel Eielen write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Oterswil / Insel Eielen is where the day begins. Next is Egelsee.

  2. 2. Egelsee

    There is almost nothing to see at the Egelsee, and that is part of its charm. It is a small, reed-fringed bog lake in the rolling Thurgau countryside between Gachnang and Frauenfeld, and under its peat and mud lie the remains of a Neolithic lakeside settlement, timber piles and floor layers preserved for thousands of years because air never reached them. It is one of the many sites that make up the Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps on the UNESCO list, and unlike the reconstructed villages you find elsewhere, this one has been left in the ground on purpose. Archaeologists consider the soggy earth the best museum there is.

    Read the complete Egelsee write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Egelsee comes up about 80 km into the recorded legs. Next is Schreckensee.

  3. 3. Schreckensee

    The Schreckensee, the lake of terror, is a disappointingly peaceful place for such a dramatic name. It is a small kettle lake in the moraine country of Upper Swabia, between Ravensburg and Aulendorf, left behind when a block of glacial ice melted at the end of the last Ice Age. Its shores, now partly bog and reed bed, hide the remains of prehistoric settlements, and it is one of the German sites in the UNESCO listing of Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps. As at most of these sites, nothing is visible on the surface; the timbers and household waste lie preserved underwater and in the peat, waiting for future archaeologists.

    Read the complete Schreckensee write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 179 km into the recorded legs you reach Schreckensee. Next is back through Egelsee.

  4. 4. back through Egelsee

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Egelsee write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Egelsee, late in the day. Next is Oterswil / Insel Eielen.

  5. 5. Oterswil / Insel Eielen

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Oterswil / Insel Eielen write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Back at Oterswil / Insel Eielen. That is the ride.

Leg by leg

Oterswil / Insel Eielen to Egelsee

Oterswil / Insel Eielen → Egelsee is 80 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.

Egelsee to Schreckensee

Egelsee → Schreckensee is 99 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.

Schreckensee to back through Egelsee

Schreckensee → back through Egelsee is 90 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.

back through Egelsee to Oterswil / Insel Eielen

back through Egelsee → Oterswil / Insel Eielen is 78 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.

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