Why this ride
A 115 km round trip from Schmitten - roughly 1 h 56 in the saddle. The stops in between: Watchtower WP 3/23*, Fortlet Adolfseck and back through Watchtower WP 3/23*. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Watchtower WP 3/49* and Fortlet Adolfseck
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 115 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 56
- 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 3/49*
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* is where the day begins. Next is Watchtower WP 3/23*.
2. Watchtower WP 3/23*
On the wooded ridges near Idstein, the Taunus Limes crossed some of its highest and most remote ground, and Watchtower WP 3/23 is one of the many sites along this stretch. The asterisk in the official label suggests a site whose exact location is uncertain or reconstructed from survey work, which is common along the frontier, where many towers survive only as faint mounds in the forest. Still, walking the Limes trail here, with the bank and ditch running through the beech woods, gives a real sense of the Roman border.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/23* write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 3/23* comes up about 26 km into the recorded legs. 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
about 50 km into the recorded legs you reach Fortlet Adolfseck. Next is back through Watchtower WP 3/23*.
4. back through Watchtower WP 3/23*
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/23* 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 3/23*, late in the day. Next is Watchtower WP 3/49*.
5. Watchtower WP 3/49*
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
Back at Watchtower WP 3/49*. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Watchtower WP 3/49* to Watchtower WP 3/23*
Watchtower WP 3/49* → Watchtower WP 3/23* is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 3/23* to Fortlet Adolfseck
Watchtower WP 3/23* → Fortlet Adolfseck is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fortlet Adolfseck to back through Watchtower WP 3/23*
Fortlet Adolfseck → back through Watchtower WP 3/23* is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 3/23* to Watchtower WP 3/49*
back through Watchtower WP 3/23* → Watchtower WP 3/49* is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.