Why this ride
A 176 km round trip from Bad Ems - roughly 3 h 18 in the saddle. It goes by way of Watchtower WP 2/31, Watchtower SP 3/5*, Watchtower WP 3/49* and back through Watchtower SP 3/5*. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Watchtower WP 2/1 including fortlet Bad Em and Watchtower WP 3/49*
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 176 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Watchtower WP 2/1 including fortlet Bad Em
Bad Ems has been a spa town since the Romans noticed the springs, and today it is a handsome, slightly faded place squeezed into the narrow Lahn valley between wooded hills. The town and its surroundings sit on the line of the Upper Germanic Limes, which the Roman Empire pushed through here to protect the valley and its minerals. A fortlet and a watchtower were built on the heights above the river, and the remains give the numbered label its meaning. Walk a short way up and you can see why the soldiers picked the spot: the slopes drop sharply to the water, and the view along the valley is long.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 2/1 including fortlet Bad Em write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 2/1 including fortlet Bad Em is where the day begins. Next is Watchtower WP 2/31.
2. Watchtower WP 2/31
Holzhausen an der Haide is a small village on the high ground of the western Taunus, between the Rhine and the Lahn, and it has one of the better-preserved Roman fort sites along the Limes. The stone walls of Kastell Holzhausen still stand to a modest height in the fields just outside the village, outlining the fort's rectangle with its rounded corners and gates. Watchtower WP 2/31 belongs to the chain of towers that linked forts like this one along the frontier, and in this open landscape you can easily imagine the signals passing from hill to hill.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 2/31 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 2/31 comes up about 26 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtower SP 3/5*.
3. Watchtower SP 3/5*
Taunusstein did not exist as a town until 1971, when ten villages on the high plateau north of Wiesbaden were merged into one municipality, and so it has no old centre, just a cluster of former villages, each with its church, its half-timbered houses and its fields. One of them, Wehen, gave its name to the football club SV Wehen Wiesbaden, which started here before moving to the city. The Roman frontier ran along the edge of this plateau, and watchtower SP 3/5, close to the line, is one of the many small sites that mark it in the forest between Taunusstein and Idstein.
Read the complete Watchtower SP 3/5* write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 58 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtower SP 3/5*. Next is Watchtower WP 3/49*.
4. Watchtower WP 3/49*
High in the Taunus, the wooded hills northwest of Frankfurt, the Roman Limes followed the ridge line, and its watchtowers looked out over the forests to the north. Watchtower WP 3/49, near Schmitten and Glashütten, is one of hundreds of such posts recorded along the frontier, and today its remains lie in the woods, a low mound or a scatter of stones. The Limes path, a long-distance walking trail, follows the line through the forest, and walkers can trace the ditch and bank of the old frontier for kilometres. The whole line is part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes World Heritage site.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/49* write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 3/49*, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtower SP 3/5*.
5. back through Watchtower SP 3/5*
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower SP 3/5* write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Watchtower SP 3/5* sits at 103 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtower WP 2/31.
6. back through Watchtower WP 2/31
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 2/31 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 2/31 comes up about 150 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtower WP 2/1 including fortlet Bad Em.
7. Watchtower WP 2/1 including fortlet Bad Em
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 2/1 including fortlet Bad Em write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 2/1 including fortlet Bad Em closes the day.
Leg by leg
Watchtower WP 2/1 including fortlet Bad Em to Watchtower WP 2/31
Watchtower WP 2/1 including fortlet Bad Em → Watchtower WP 2/31 is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 2/31 to Watchtower SP 3/5*
Watchtower WP 2/31 → Watchtower SP 3/5* is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower SP 3/5* to Watchtower WP 3/49*
Watchtower SP 3/5* → Watchtower WP 3/49* is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 3/49* to back through Watchtower SP 3/5*
Watchtower WP 3/49* → back through Watchtower SP 3/5* is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower SP 3/5* to back through Watchtower WP 2/31
back through Watchtower SP 3/5* → back through Watchtower WP 2/31 is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 2/31 to Watchtower WP 2/1 including fortlet Bad Em
back through Watchtower WP 2/31 → Watchtower WP 2/1 including fortlet Bad Em is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.