Why this ride
325 km from Echzell to Echzell, about 4 h 15 of riding. The stops in between: Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP, Watchtower WP 2/1 including fortlet Bad Em and back through Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Watchtower WP 4/81 and Watchtower WP 2/1 including fortlet Bad Em
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 325 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 15
- 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 4/81
A Roman watchtower on the Limes was, in essence, a lookout with a roof. The stone ones were about five metres square and perhaps ten metres high, with a ground floor for storage, an upper room for a handful of soldiers, and a wooden gallery with a window or a balcony from which a lamp, a horn or a flag could be used to signal. Where the tower stood, a small patch of ground was cleared, with a ditch around it, and the garrison lived in the tower itself or in a nearby hut. Number 4/81 stands in Hesse, in the Wetterau, between Echzell and the village of Hungen, in a landscape of farmland and low volcanic hills.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 4/81 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 4/81 is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP.
2. Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP
On the western side of the Taunus, the hills are lower and the forest gives way more often to farmland, with villages in the folds of the valleys. Idstein, a small town with a remarkable old centre, sits on this side, with Waldems and Glashütten nearby. Through the woods above them ran the Roman frontier, and the stretch of watchtowers numbered WP 3/24 to 3/40 followed the ridges here, part of the Upper Germanic Limes and of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire site.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP comes up about 82 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtower WP 2/1 including fortlet Bad Em.
3. Watchtower WP 2/1 including fortlet Bad Em
Bad Ems has been a spa town since the Romans noticed the springs, and today it is a handsome, slightly faded place squeezed into the narrow Lahn valley between wooded hills. The town and its surroundings sit on the line of the Upper Germanic Limes, which the Roman Empire pushed through here to protect the valley and its minerals. A fortlet and a watchtower were built on the heights above the river, and the remains give the numbered label its meaning. Walk a short way up and you can see why the soldiers picked the spot: the slopes drop sharply to the water, and the view along the valley is long.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 2/1 including fortlet Bad Em write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 161 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtower WP 2/1 including fortlet Bad Em. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP.
4. back through Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP 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 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP, late in the day. Next is Watchtower WP 4/81.
5. Watchtower WP 4/81
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 4/81 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 4/81. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Watchtower WP 4/81 to Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP
Watchtower WP 4/81 → Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP is 82 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP to Watchtower WP 2/1 including fortlet Bad Em
Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP → Watchtower WP 2/1 including fortlet Bad Em is 79 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 2/1 including fortlet Bad Em to back through Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP
Watchtower WP 2/1 including fortlet Bad Em → back through Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP is 81 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP to Watchtower WP 4/81
back through Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP → Watchtower WP 4/81 is 82 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.