Watchtowers WP 2/7 and 2/13 including fort and Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
211 km
Riding-time estimate
4 h 50
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.
From Nassau it runs 211 km to Nassau; allow about 4 h 50 of riding. On the way it passes Watchtower WP 1/60, Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the, Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof and back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Scenic road chapters
Moselle Wine Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 31 km this is Moselle Wine Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
Length
31 km
Named road
Moselle Wine Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Watchtowers WP 2/7 and 2/13 including fort
Between the Lahn and the Rhine, the Roman frontier crossed a high, wooded plateau known locally as the Einrich, and the watchtowers from 2/7 to 2/13 stood on this stretch, near the village of Dachsenhausen. In the forest, the earth bank and ditch can still be followed, and small forts, built to house the soldiers who manned the towers, have left their outlines in the ground. Here, as elsewhere in Germany, the Limes belongs to the frontiers of the Roman Empire on the World Heritage list, but the forest is quiet, and you may walk the line for an hour without meeting anyone.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 2/7 and 2/13 including fort is where the day begins. Next is Watchtower WP 1/60.
2. Watchtower WP 1/60
Above Koblenz, on the edge of the Westerwald, the potters of Höhr-Grenzhausen have been making grey, salt-glazed stoneware with cobalt-blue decoration for centuries, giving this corner of Germany its nickname, the Kannenbäckerland, the land of jug bakers. In the forest nearby, the site of Roman watchtower WP 1/60 on the Upper German-Raetian Limes is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site. The tower was one of hundreds along the frontier, a wooden or stone structure from which soldiers watched the land beyond and signalled to their neighbours.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 1/60 comes up about 31 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the.
3. Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the
Here is where the Upper German-Raetian Limes, the longest stretch of Roman frontier in Europe, begins. The Romans started the line at the Rhine near Rheinbrohl and ran it up over the hills of the Westerwald, then on through the Taunus and beyond for more than five hundred kilometres to the Danube. The section with watchtowers numbered WP 1/11 to 1/20 follows the first climb away from the river through the forests above Rheinbrohl, Hammerstein and Niederbreitbach. Most of the towers survive only as low mounds of stone in the woods, but the course of the frontier ditch and rampart can often be traced on foot, and there are information boards and a few reconstructions along the way.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 67 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the. Next is Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof.
4. Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof
There is very little to see at first glance here, which is exactly what makes the place oddly moving. South of Bonn, in the edge of the Kottenforst near the Heiderhof quarter of Bad Godesberg and the town of Wachtberg, the forest floor hides the faint outlines of Roman practice camps. Legionaries stationed at the fortress of Bonna on the Rhine marched out here to train at the hard, boring work that won the empire its wars: digging ditches, throwing up earth ramparts and laying out a camp to the standard plan in a few hours. A handful of these training camps in the Kottenforst are part of the Lower German Limes, the Roman frontier along the Rhine recognised by UNESCO in 2021.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 2/7 and 2/13 including fort closes the day.
Leg by leg
Watchtowers WP 2/7 and 2/13 including fort to Watchtower WP 1/60
Watchtowers WP 2/7 and 2/13 including fort → Watchtower WP 1/60 is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 1/60 to Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the
Watchtower WP 1/60 → Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the to Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof
Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the → Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof to back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the
Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof → back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the to back through Watchtower WP 1/60
back through Watchtowers WP 1/11 to 1/20 including the → back through Watchtower WP 1/60 is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 1/60 to Watchtowers WP 2/7 and 2/13 including fort
back through Watchtower WP 1/60 → Watchtowers WP 2/7 and 2/13 including fort is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.