Watchtowers WP 14/29 to 14/62 including fo and Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
182 km
Riding-time estimate
4 h 01
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.
From Burgsalach it runs 182 km to Burgsalach; allow about 4 h 01 of riding. It goes by way of fort site and civil settlement of Theilenh, Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo, Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for and back through Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Scenic road chapters
Romantic Road
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 39 km this is Romantic Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
Length
39 km
Named road
Romantic Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Watchtowers WP 14/29 to 14/62 including fo
Burgsalach is a quiet village of about twelve hundred people on the high limestone plateau of the Franconian Jura, and the old frontier of the Roman Empire ran right across it. This was the Raetian Limes, a different beast from the timber palisade further north. Here the Romans built in stone, and the remains of the wall, which locals long ascribed to the devil and called the Teufelsmauer, still show up as a low line in the fields and woods. The towers along it were numbered by archaeologists, which is why the label is a string of figures rather than a name.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 14/29 to 14/62 including fo is where the day begins. Next is fort site and civil settlement of Theilenh.
2. fort site and civil settlement of Theilenh
The Romans called it Iciniacum, and for a century and a half it was home to a cavalry unit guarding the Raetian frontier in what is now Middle Franconia. The fort at Theilenhofen, near Gunzenhausen in Bavaria, lay just behind the Limes, the frontier wall that here was built of stone, running across the landscape from the Danube toward the Main. Today there is little above ground, but information panels by the site and the line of the fort traced in the fields help visitors picture it. It is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes, listed by UNESCO in 2005.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
fort site and civil settlement of Theilenh comes up about 23 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo.
3. Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo
The Raetian Limes ran across southern Franconia as a stone wall, and between Wassertrüdingen and Gunzenhausen it climbed over low hills and crossed the valleys of small rivers, with watchtowers at regular intervals. The group from WP 13/16 to 13/36 includes the sites of several towers and a fortlet, now visible as low mounds and foundations, sometimes with reconstructions, and they are part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes World Heritage listing. In the woods and fields, a line of stones or a slight bank may mark the course of the wall.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 51 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo. Next is Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for.
4. Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for
Near Rainau, not far from here, the Romans built a monumental gate in the Raetian Limes, a showpiece entrance probably connected with a visit by the emperor Caracalla in the early third century. Today the Limestor Dalkingen is protected under a glass and steel shelter, an impressive sight. The watchtowers numbered in this section, around Stödtlen, Wört and Tannhausen, were part of the same frontier, which ran here as a stone wall across the hilly country between the Ries crater and the Swabian Forest, toward the Danube.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo sits at 113 km, about halfway. Next is back through fort site and civil settlement of Theilenh.
6. back through fort site and civil settlement of Theilenh
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through fort site and civil settlement of Theilenh comes up about 159 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 14/29 to 14/62 including fo.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 14/29 to 14/62 including fo closes the day.
Leg by leg
Watchtowers WP 14/29 to 14/62 including fo to fort site and civil settlement of Theilenh
Watchtowers WP 14/29 to 14/62 including fo → fort site and civil settlement of Theilenh is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
fort site and civil settlement of Theilenh to Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo
fort site and civil settlement of Theilenh → Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo to Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for
Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo → Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for to back through Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo
Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for → back through Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo to back through fort site and civil settlement of Theilenh
back through Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo → back through fort site and civil settlement of Theilenh is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through fort site and civil settlement of Theilenh to Watchtowers WP 14/29 to 14/62 including fo
back through fort site and civil settlement of Theilenh → Watchtowers WP 14/29 to 14/62 including fo is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.