Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo and Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo

   Between Greding and Eichstätt, the Raetian Limes runs across the high Franconian Jura plateau, and the names on the map, WP 14/63 to 14/78, are archaeologists' shorthand for a sequence of Roman watchtower sites along this section of the frontier. The Raetian Limes was the wall part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes, inscribed by UNESCO as part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire. Here, the Romans built a stone wall rather than the timber palisade used further west. Locals later called the remains the Teufelsmauer, the Devil's Wall, believing nothing human could have built it.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 13/41 to 13/45.

2. 2. Watchtowers WP 13/41 to 13/45

   South of Gunzenhausen the old frontier of the Roman Empire ran across the countryside in a ruler-straight line, and the numbered watchtowers are the markers for that line. This is the Raetian Limes, the stretch that, from the second century onward, was built from timber and then stone to protect the province of Raetia from the Germanic tribes to the north. The numbers 13/41 to 13/45 simply describe a cluster of tower sites on the surveyor's map. Most of them have been reduced by farming and time to low mounds and gentle banks in the fields, so what you actually find is landscape rather than masonry.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 13/41 to 13/45 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Watchtowers WP 13/41 to 13/45 comes up about 61 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68.

3. 3. Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68

   The Roman frontier wall known as the Limes ran for more than five hundred kilometres across what is now southern Germany, from the Rhine to the Danube, and near Aalen it passed through the Kocher valley and over the hills of the Ostalb. Along its length, watchtowers were built at regular intervals, numbered by archaeologists in sequence: WP 12/60 to 12/68 are a group of tower sites near Hüttlingen, mostly now visible as low mounds or reconstructed foundations. The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes was inscribed by UNESCO in 2005 as part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 139 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 13/41 to 13/45.

4. 4. back through Watchtowers WP 13/41 to 13/45

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 13/41 to 13/45 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 13/41 to 13/45, late in the day. Next is Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo.

5. 5. Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo. That is the ride.