Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81 and Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
287 km
Riding-time estimate
3 h 41
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.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 287 km round trip from Kadenbach - roughly 3 h 41 in the saddle. It goes by way of Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP, Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57 and back through Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81
Kadenbach, Arzbach and Eitelborn are three small villages on the broad, wooded plateau of the Westerwald, a short way north of the Lahn valley, and the four watchtowers here sit in a short run along the Roman frontier. Numbers 1/78 to 1/81 belong to the first section of the Upper German-Raetian Limes, running from the Rhine towards the Taunus. The frontier was a palisade with towers placed within sight of one another, and the signal system relied on fire at night and smoke or flag by day. In this area the Romans picked ridges and shoulders of hills so the view ran for miles over land that was then forest and scrub.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81 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.
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 73 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57.
3. Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57
The Wetterau is the broad, fertile plain north of Frankfurt, between the Taunus and the Vogelsberg, and the Romans considered it so valuable that they bent their frontier around it to include it in the empire. The Limes ran along the northern edge of the plain, and the watchtowers numbered WP 4/53 to 4/57, near the town of Lich, stood on this section, part of the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes listed by UNESCO in 2005. Like most watchtowers, they survive only as mounds or traces in the fields and forest, but the line of the frontier can be followed on foot or by bicycle.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81 to Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP
Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81 → Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP is 73 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP to Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57
Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP → Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57 is 71 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57 to back through Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP
Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57 → back through Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP is 72 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 Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81
back through Watchtowers WP 3/24 to 3/40Watchtowers WP → Watchtowers WP 1/78 to 1/81 is 71 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.