Watchtowers WP 15/8 to 15/10 and Fort site of Burgsalach

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Watchtowers WP 15/8 to 15/10

   The Raetian Limes, the eastern stretch of Rome's frontier in Germany, was built differently from its western counterpart. Instead of a wooden palisade, the Romans eventually raised a stone wall here, running for over a hundred and sixty kilometres across what is now Bavaria, towards the Danube. Locals later called it the Teufelsmauer, the Devil's Wall, convinced that only a demon could have built something so long. Watchtowers stood along it every few hundred metres, and the group between WP 15/8 and 15/10, in the hills between Greding and Dietfurt, is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire. In places, low remains of the wall and towers can be traced in the forest and fields.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 15/8 to 15/10 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Watchtowers WP 15/8 to 15/10 is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo.

2. 2. 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 comes up about 19 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fort site of Burgsalach.

3. 3. Fort site of Burgsalach

   The small fortlet at Burgsalach stood on the Raetian Limes, the eastern section of Rome's frontier in Germany. Dating from a late phase of the frontier, it had walls of stone and was compact and well defended, more like a small castle than the usual timber watchtower, and its name lives on in the village of Burgsalach nearby. The outline of the walls can still be traced on the ground, and like the rest of the frontier it is part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire. Here, in the hills of Middle Franconia, the Raetian Limes was not a palisade but a stone wall, which local legend later attributed to the Devil himself, calling it the Teufelsmauer.

   Read the complete Fort site of Burgsalach write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 39 km into the recorded legs you reach Fort site of Burgsalach. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo.

4. 4. back through 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 through Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo, late in the day. Next is Watchtowers WP 15/8 to 15/10.

5. 5. Watchtowers WP 15/8 to 15/10

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 15/8 to 15/10 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 15/8 to 15/10. That is the ride.