Why this ride
A 168 km round trip from Höhr-Grenzhausen - roughly 3 h 12 in the saddle. On the way it passes Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24, Remagen, Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar and back through Remagen. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66 and Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 168 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 12
- 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.
Scenic road chapters
Moselle Wine Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 26 km this is Moselle Wine Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 26 km
- Named road
- Moselle Wine Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66
The Westerwald is a low, rain-washed plateau of beech, meadow and clay pits, and the Roman Limes cut straight across it. This stretch, marked by the surveyors' numbers for two watchtowers, lies close to Höhr-Grenzhausen, where the Limes was a palisade and ditch with timber towers every few hundred metres, replaced later by stone. You will not find tall walls. What you find is a gentle bank in the woods, a mound where a tower stood, and a signpost telling you that soldiers once watched the horizon from this exact spot.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66 is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24.
2. Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24
The Upper German-Raetian Limes began at the Rhine, at Rheinbrohl, and climbed into the hills on the east bank, and towers WP 1/23 and 1/24, near the wine village of Leutesdorf, are among the first along its route. They are now marked by foundations or mounds in the forest above the river, and they are part of the World Heritage listing. From here the frontier ran for more than five hundred kilometres to the Danube, and it is fascinating to stand at the very beginning of such an enormous undertaking.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24 comes up about 26 km into the recorded legs. Next is Remagen.
3. Remagen
On 7 March 1945, soldiers of the US 9th Armored Division reached Remagen and found the Ludendorff railway bridge across the Rhine still standing, despite German attempts to blow it. They rushed across, and for the first time the Allies had a foothold on the far bank of the great river. Ten days later the damaged bridge collapsed, but by then pontoons had been built and the war in the west had entered its last chapter. What remains today are the black stone towers on both banks, and those on the Remagen side house a small peace museum telling the story with honesty and without glorification.
Read the complete Remagen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 52 km into the recorded legs you reach Remagen. Next is Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar.
4. Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar
The southern Kottenforst is the Bonn locals' own backyard, and on a fine Sunday it feels like it. Tracks and rides cross the woodland in all directions, and the people on them are walkers, joggers, riders and families on bicycles rather than motorbikes. The name on the label, with its mention of a pond-like hollow called Maar, hints at the wet, clay-lined depressions that dot this plateau and hold water after rain. Underneath lie old Roman remains too, including part of the Eifel aqueduct that carried water toward Cologne, though you will see it only if you know where to look.
Read the complete Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar, about halfway. Next is back through Remagen.
5. back through Remagen
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Remagen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Remagen sits at 100 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24.
6. back through Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24 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 1/23 to 1/24 comes up about 141 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66.
7. Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66 closes the day.
Leg by leg
Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66 to Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24
Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66 → Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24 is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24 to Remagen
Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24 → Remagen is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Remagen to Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar
Remagen → Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar to back through Remagen
Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar → back through Remagen is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Remagen to back through Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24
back through Remagen → back through Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24 is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24 to Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66
back through Watchtowers WP 1/23 to 1/24 → Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66 is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.