Why this ride
From Glashütten it runs 185 km to Glashütten; allow about 3 h 12 of riding. On the way it passes Watchtower WP 3/19* to 3/21*, Fortlet Adolfseck, Watchtower WP 2/31 and Watchtower WP 3/4*.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Watchtower WP 3/42* and Watchtower WP 3/4*
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 185 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 12
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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 3/42*
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 3/19* to 3/21*.
2. Watchtower WP 3/19* to 3/21*
The Taunus does not shout. It is a rounded, forested upland north of Wiesbaden and Frankfurt, and the Roman frontier crossed it on its way from the Rhine to the Main. These numbered watchtowers near Idstein belong to the Upper Germanic frontier, which in this part of Hesse ran through woods and clearings along the high ground. Archaeologists have recorded the tower positions along the line, and the asterisks in the label are their way of marking sites that are uncertain or only partly known. In practice you find woodland, a trail and the faint trace of an old bank.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/19* to 3/21* write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 3/19* to 3/21* comes up 18 km in. Next is Fortlet Adolfseck.
3. 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.
Read the complete Fortlet Adolfseck write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
35 km in you reach Fortlet Adolfseck. Next is Watchtower WP 2/31.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is Watchtower WP 3/4*.
5. Watchtower WP 3/4*
In the western Taunus, between Bad Schwalbach and Taunusstein, the forest is thick and the hills roll gently, and the Upper German Limes runs along the ridge here as a still visible bank and ditch. The site labelled Watchtower WP 3/4 is one of the many small posts along this section, and a few kilometres to the east, near Taunusstein-Orlen, the fort of Zugmantel guarded a crossing of the frontier on an old trade route into Germanic territory. These remains are part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site, and a walk along the Limes trail through the forest here is peaceful and atmospheric.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/4* write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 3/4* sits at 70 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 88 km in. Next is back through Fortlet Adolfseck.
7. back through Fortlet Adolfseck
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fortlet Adolfseck write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
105 km in you reach back through Fortlet Adolfseck. Next is back through Watchtower WP 3/19* to 3/21*.
8. back through Watchtower WP 3/19* to 3/21*
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/19* to 3/21* 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 3/19* to 3/21*, late in the day. Next is Watchtower WP 3/42*.
9. 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
The route ends here after 185 km.
Leg by leg
Watchtower WP 3/42* to Watchtower WP 3/19* to 3/21*
Watchtower WP 3/42* → Watchtower WP 3/19* to 3/21* is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 3/19* to 3/21* to Fortlet Adolfseck
Watchtower WP 3/19* to 3/21* → Fortlet Adolfseck is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fortlet Adolfseck to Watchtower WP 2/31
Fortlet Adolfseck → Watchtower WP 2/31 is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 2/31 to Watchtower WP 3/4*
Watchtower WP 2/31 → Watchtower WP 3/4* is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 3/4* to back through Watchtower WP 2/31
Watchtower WP 3/4* → back through Watchtower WP 2/31 is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 2/31 to back through Fortlet Adolfseck
back through Watchtower WP 2/31 → back through Fortlet Adolfseck is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fortlet Adolfseck to back through Watchtower WP 3/19* to 3/21*
back through Fortlet Adolfseck → back through Watchtower WP 3/19* to 3/21* is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 3/19* to 3/21* to Watchtower WP 3/42*
back through Watchtower WP 3/19* to 3/21* → Watchtower WP 3/42* is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.