Why this ride
From Taunusstein it runs 325 km to Taunusstein; allow about 3 h 57 of riding. The stops in between: Watchtower WP 1/61, Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee and back through Watchtower WP 1/61.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci and Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 325 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 57
- 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 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci
The Taunus is the green upland that keeps Frankfurt's weekend riders sane, and running right across it is the line of the Roman frontier. The stretch of watchtowers numbered 3/1 to 3/14 lies near Taunusstein, north of Wiesbaden, where the Upper Germanic Limes crossed the ridge, and it includes the remains of forts and their civilian settlements. One of the best known nearby is the fort of Zugmantel, near the hamlet of Orlen, where the outline of the fort, the palisade line and reconstructed watchtowers give a real sense of the frontier. The whole line is part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci is where the day begins. Next is Watchtower WP 1/61.
2. Watchtower WP 1/61
Höhr-Grenzhausen is clay country, and that decides almost everything about this part of the Westerwald. The hills hold a thick seam of fine, high-quality stoneware clay, and for centuries the area has been known as the Kannenbäckerland, the land of the jug makers. Grey salt-glazed pottery with blue decoration, called Westerwald stoneware, was exported across Europe from here, and workshops and a ceramics museum still keep the trade alive. It is a surprising backdrop for a Roman watchtower, but the Romans were here first, and WP 1/61 is one of the numbered posts of the Upper German-Raetian Limes, which UNESCO listed in 2005.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/61 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 1/61 comes up about 84 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee.
3. Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee
The Kottenforst is a big, flat, rather mysterious forest on the plateau south-west of Bonn, crossed by long, dead-straight avenues laid out by the Electors of Cologne in the eighteenth century as hunting rides. The Bellerbuschallee is one of them, and walking or riding along it you pass oak and beech, wet hollows and the occasional deer. Under the trees, though, lie traces much older than the Electors: the low ramparts of Roman practice camps, where legionaries from Bonn learned to dig defences quickly. These camps form part of the Lower German Limes World Heritage listing inscribed in 2021.
Read the complete Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 167 km into the recorded legs you reach Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee. Next is back through Watchtower WP 1/61.
4. back through Watchtower WP 1/61
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/61 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 1/61, late in the day. Next is Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci.
5. Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci to Watchtower WP 1/61
Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci → Watchtower WP 1/61 is 84 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 1/61 to Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee
Watchtower WP 1/61 → Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee is 83 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee to back through Watchtower WP 1/61
Kottenforst Süd | Bellerbuschallee → back through Watchtower WP 1/61 is 78 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 1/61 to Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci
back through Watchtower WP 1/61 → Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci is 80 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.