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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Watchtower WP 3/49* and Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
168 km
Riding-time estimate
3 h 06
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.

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Why this ride

A 168 km round trip from Schmitten - roughly 3 h 06 in the saddle. On the way it passes Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the, Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the, Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6 and back through Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the.

Scenic road chapters

Rhine Romantic Route

Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 26 km this is Rhine Romantic Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.

Chapter facts
Length
26 km
Named road
Rhine Romantic Route

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 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 Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the.

  2. 2. Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the

    In the hills of the Taunus north of Wiesbaden, the Roman frontier ran along the ridges through dense forest, and between watchtowers 3/15 and 3/19 near Idstein, its line can still be traced on the ground. The Romans built an earth bank and ditch, topped with a wooden palisade, with stone watchtowers at regular intervals, close enough to see each other and signal along the line. In the forest, the bank and ditch survive as a long, low ridge and hollow, and the foundations of watchtowers appear as low mounds, sometimes with a few stones visible. The Upper Germanic and Raetian Limes, more than five hundred kilometres long, has been a World Heritage site since 2005.

    Read the complete Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the.

  3. 3. Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the

    West of the Taunus ridge, where the high country rolls down toward the Rhine gorge and the Lahn, the line of the Upper German Limes runs through farmland and forest near the villages of Holzhausen an der Haide, Katzenelnbogen and Nastätten. Archaeologists have catalogued the sites of the watchtowers along this stretch, numbered WP 2/35 to 2/48, and near Holzhausen are the remains of a stone fort, well preserved and easily visited, with its walls and gate outlines clear in the grass. The Limes here consisted of a palisade of wooden stakes, later backed by a ditch and bank, with watchtowers at regular intervals and forts a few kilometres behind. It formed the frontier of the Roman Empire for more than a century and a half.

    Read the complete Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 57 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the. Next is Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6.

  4. 4. Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6

    WP 2/5 and 2/6 sound like spare parts, but they are the numbers archaeologists gave to two watchtower positions on the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes, the fortified frontier Rome drew across southern Germany. Here, in the hills above the Lahn near Bad Ems, the line ran up from the Rhine and over the high ground, and every few hundred metres a tower stood with a view to the next. Today most of what survives are low mounds, traces of the bank and ditch, and in some places a reconstructed tower to give you scale. The whole frontier became part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire in 2005.

    Read the complete Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6 write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the.

  5. 5. back through Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the sits at 100 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the.

  6. 6. back through Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the comes up about 138 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtower WP 3/49*.

  7. 7. 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

    Watchtower WP 3/49* closes the day.

Leg by leg

Watchtower WP 3/49* to Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the

Watchtower WP 3/49* → Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the to Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the

Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the → Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the to Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6

Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the → Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6 is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6 to back through Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the

Watchtowers WP 2/5 to 2/6 → back through Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the to back through Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the

back through Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the → back through Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the to Watchtower WP 3/49*

back through Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the → Watchtower WP 3/49* is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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