Why this ride
A 290 km round trip from Idstein - roughly 3 h 45 in the saddle. The stops in between: Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66, Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof and back through Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the and Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 290 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 45
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the
In the hills of the Taunus north of Wiesbaden, the Roman frontier ran along the ridges through dense forest, and between watchtowers 3/15 and 3/19 near Idstein, its line can still be traced on the ground. The Romans built an earth bank and ditch, topped with a wooden palisade, with stone watchtowers at regular intervals, close enough to see each other and signal along the line. In the forest, the bank and ditch survive as a long, low ridge and hollow, and the foundations of watchtowers appear as low mounds, sometimes with a few stones visible. The Upper Germanic and Raetian Limes, more than five hundred kilometres long, has been a World Heritage site since 2005.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66.
2. Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66
The Westerwald is a low, rain-washed plateau of beech, meadow and clay pits, and the Roman Limes cut straight across it. This stretch, marked by the surveyors' numbers for two watchtowers, lies close to Höhr-Grenzhausen, where the Limes was a palisade and ditch with timber towers every few hundred metres, replaced later by stone. You will not find tall walls. What you find is a gentle bank in the woods, a mound where a tower stood, and a signpost telling you that soldiers once watched the horizon from this exact spot.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66 comes up about 70 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof.
3. 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.
Read the complete Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 145 km into the recorded legs you reach Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66.
4. back through Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66 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 1/67 to 1/66, late in the day. Next is Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the.
5. Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the 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 3/15 to 3/19 including the. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the to Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66
Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the → Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66 is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66 to Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof
Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66 → Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof is 75 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof to back through Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66
Kottenforst Süd | Heiderhof → back through Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66 is 73 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66 to Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the
back through Watchtowers WP 1/67 to 1/66 → Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the is 72 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.