Watchtower WP 3/42* and Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Watchtower WP 3/42*

   Glashütten takes its name from the glass huts that worked in these forests in the Middle Ages, when the endless beech and oak of the high Taunus supplied fuel for the furnaces and potash for the glass. Today it is a quiet village spread over a saddle below the Großer Feldberg, at around 880 metres the highest summit in the Taunus, and the Roman frontier passes right by it. Watchtower 3/42 stood on this stretch of the Limes, where the bank and ditch run through the forest along the ridge; near the Feldberg summit, the remains of a small Roman fort, the Feldbergkastell, show where a garrison guarded a pass through the mountains.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/42* write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Watchtower WP 3/42* is where the day begins. Next is Watchtower WP 1/87.

2. 2. Watchtower WP 1/87

   The Limes crosses the Lahn at Bad Ems, and this stretch of the Rhineland-Palatinate hills is where the Roman frontier meets one of Germany's prettiest river valleys. The Lahn runs through a deep, wooded gorge here, with vineyards and steep slopes, and old spa towns along the banks. Dausenau is a small medieval town of half-timbered houses that still has its town wall, and a church tower that leans, a result of an unstable foundation. Arzbach lies on the high ground to the north, known for pottery.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/87 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Watchtower WP 1/87 comes up about 65 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof.

3. 3. Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof

   There is very little to see at first glance here, which is exactly what makes the place oddly moving. South of Bonn, in the edge of the Kottenforst near the Heiderhof quarter of Bad Godesberg and the town of Wachtberg, the forest floor hides the faint outlines of Roman practice camps. Legionaries stationed at the fortress of Bonna on the Rhine marched out here to train at the hard, boring work that won the empire its wars: digging ditches, throwing up earth ramparts and laying out a camp to the standard plan in a few hours. A handful of these training camps in the Kottenforst are part of the Lower German Limes, the Roman frontier along the Rhine recognised by UNESCO in 2021.

   Read the complete Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 151 km into the recorded legs you reach Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof. Next is back through Watchtower WP 1/87.

4. 4. back through Watchtower WP 1/87

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/87 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 1/87, late in the day. Next is Watchtower WP 3/42*.

5. 5. Watchtower WP 3/42*

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/42* 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 3/42*. That is the ride.