Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald and Fortlet Adolfseck
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
199 km
Riding-time estimate
3 h 03
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.
199 km from Münzenberg to Münzenberg, about 3 h 03 of riding. It goes by way of Fortlet Lochmühle, Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP, Fortlet Adolfseck and back through Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP. The line favours views over speed.
Scenic road chapters
Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald → Fortlet Lochmühle
47 km on Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald → Fortlet Lochmühle.
Chapter facts
Length
47 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald
The Roman frontier in Germany, the Limes, ran for over five hundred kilometres from the Rhine to the Danube, a line of palisades, ditches, walls, watchtowers and forts that marked the edge of the empire. In the Wetterau, north of Frankfurt, the Limes swung east in a great bulge to enclose this fertile plain, which the Romans valued for its farmland. In the woods near Wölfersheim stood a signal tower, one of the many small posts along the line, and today its remains are part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes, listed by UNESCO in 2005 as part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald is where the day begins. Next is Fortlet Lochmühle.
2. Fortlet Lochmühle
The Lochmühle is a small fortlet on the Limes in the Taunus, near Wehrheim and the famous Saalburg, and it guarded a spot where the frontier crossed the valley of the Erlenbach stream. Fortlets like this were small outposts, housing a handful of soldiers who watched the border and controlled traffic, and they formed a link between the watchtowers and the larger forts. Its remains are modest, but the location, in a quiet valley surrounded by forest, has a peaceful charm. The name comes from a nearby mill, now a popular leisure park for families with play areas and farm animals.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fortlet Lochmühle comes up about 47 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP.
3. Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP
On the western side of the Taunus, the hills are lower and the forest gives way more often to farmland, with villages in the folds of the valleys. Idstein, a small town with a remarkable old centre, sits on this side, with Waldems and Glashütten nearby. Through the woods above them ran the Roman frontier, and the stretch of watchtowers numbered WP 3/24 to 3/40 followed the ridges here, part of the Upper Germanic Limes and of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire site.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 80 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP. Next is Fortlet Adolfseck.
4. Fortlet Adolfseck
The Aar is a small river that winds north from the Taunus towards the Lahn, through a narrow, wooded valley that has served as a route through the hills since ancient times. Where the Roman frontier crossed the valley near Adolfseck, today a district of Bad Schwalbach, the Romans built a fortlet to control the crossing, a small, square fortification with a garrison of a few dozen soldiers. The remains have been excavated and are marked on the ground, and the stretch of frontier nearby is part of the World Heritage frontiers of the Roman Empire. Above the valley, the ruins of a medieval castle, also called Adolfseck, add another layer of history.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald closes the day.
Leg by leg
Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald to Fortlet Lochmühle
Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald → Fortlet Lochmühle is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fortlet Lochmühle to Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP
Fortlet Lochmühle → Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP to Fortlet Adolfseck
Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP → Fortlet Adolfseck is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fortlet Adolfseck to back through Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP
Fortlet Adolfseck → back through Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP to back through Fortlet Lochmühle
back through Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP → back through Fortlet Lochmühle is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fortlet Lochmühle to Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald
back through Fortlet Lochmühle → Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.