Why this ride
221 km from Bad Nauheim to Bad Nauheim, about 3 h 18 of riding. The stops in between: Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg, Watchtower WP 3/23*, Old Jewish Cemetery Mainz and back through Watchtower WP 3/23*.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Signaltower Johannisberg and Old Jewish Cemetery Mainz
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 221 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 18
- 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.
Scenic road chapters
Signaltower Johannisberg → Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 27 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 34 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Signaltower Johannisberg
On a hill above Bad Nauheim, the Johannisberg, the Romans built a signal tower that could communicate with the frontier forts of the Wetterau, the fertile plain that bulges north of Frankfurt and was protected by a long loop of the Limes. The site, with a later medieval chapel and a modern observation tower, gives wide views over the plain and the Taunus hills, and it is part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes World Heritage listing. On a clear day you can see the towers of Frankfurt on the horizon.
Read the complete Signaltower Johannisberg write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Signaltower Johannisberg is where the day begins. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg.
2. Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg
If you want to know what a Roman frontier fort actually looked like, this is the place. The Saalburg, on the ridge of the Taunus above Bad Homburg, is the only Limes fort in Germany rebuilt in full: walls, gates, towers, granary and the headquarters building, all standing again on their original foundations. The reconstruction was ordered by Kaiser Wilhelm II around 1900, who liked his Romans grand and imperial, and while archaeologists today debate some details, walking through the main gate is still a jolt.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg comes up about 34 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtower WP 3/23*.
3. Watchtower WP 3/23*
On the wooded ridges near Idstein, the Taunus Limes crossed some of its highest and most remote ground, and Watchtower WP 3/23 is one of the many sites along this stretch. The asterisk in the official label suggests a site whose exact location is uncertain or reconstructed from survey work, which is common along the frontier, where many towers survive only as faint mounds in the forest. Still, walking the Limes trail here, with the bank and ditch running through the beech woods, gives a real sense of the Roman border.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/23* write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 82 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtower WP 3/23*. Next is Old Jewish Cemetery Mainz.
4. Old Jewish Cemetery Mainz
Some of the gravestones on the sandy rise known in Mainz as the Judensand are close to a thousand years old. The oldest dated stone here goes back to the middle of the eleventh century, which makes this one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in Europe. Together with sites in Speyer and Worms, Mainz formed the ShUM communities, centres of learning on the Rhine whose scholars shaped Ashkenazi Judaism for centuries, and in 2021 the three were listed together as a World Heritage Site. Mainz was Magenza in Hebrew, home to rabbis whose rulings were followed far beyond the Rhineland.
Read the complete Old Jewish Cemetery Mainz write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Old Jewish Cemetery Mainz, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtower WP 3/23*.
5. back through Watchtower WP 3/23*
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/23* 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 3/23* sits at 107 km, about halfway. Next is back through Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg.
6. back through Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg comes up about 194 km into the recorded legs. Next is Signaltower Johannisberg.
7. Signaltower Johannisberg
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Signaltower Johannisberg write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Signaltower Johannisberg closes the day.
Leg by leg
Signaltower Johannisberg to Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg
Signaltower Johannisberg → Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg to Watchtower WP 3/23*
Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg → Watchtower WP 3/23* is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 3/23* to Old Jewish Cemetery Mainz
Watchtower WP 3/23* → Old Jewish Cemetery Mainz is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Old Jewish Cemetery Mainz to back through Watchtower WP 3/23*
Old Jewish Cemetery Mainz → back through Watchtower WP 3/23* is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 3/23* to back through Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg
back through Watchtower WP 3/23* → back through Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg to Signaltower Johannisberg
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg → Signaltower Johannisberg is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.