Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 and Civil settlement of Saalburg east of B 456

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22

   The Taunus is the low, wooded range north of Frankfurt, and the Romans chose it as the place to draw their line. The Limes crossed the ridge at a height that gave good views over both sides, and watchtowers placed close together made it possible to send signals by fire and smoke from tower to tower. The numbers, such as WP 3/20, are from the survey carried out by German archaeologists at the end of the nineteenth century, and they refer to the third section of the line. The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes was listed by UNESCO in 2005.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 is where the day begins. Next is Watchtower WP 3/42*.

2. 2. Watchtower WP 3/42*

   Glashütten takes its name from the glass huts that worked in these forests in the Middle Ages, when the endless beech and oak of the high Taunus supplied fuel for the furnaces and potash for the glass. Today it is a quiet village spread over a saddle below the Großer Feldberg, at around 880 metres the highest summit in the Taunus, and the Roman frontier passes right by it. Watchtower 3/42 stood on this stretch of the Limes, where the bank and ditch run through the forest along the ridge; near the Feldberg summit, the remains of a small Roman fort, the Feldbergkastell, show where a garrison guarded a pass through the mountains.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/42* write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Watchtower WP 3/42* comes up about 18 km into the recorded legs. Next is Civil settlement of Saalburg east of B 456.

3. 3. Civil settlement of Saalburg east of B 456

   The Saalburg is the Roman fort that Germany rebuilt. On the crest of the Taunus north of Bad Homburg, where the Limes crossed a pass, archaeologists excavated the remains of a fort in the nineteenth century, and between 1897 and 1907, with the enthusiastic support of Kaiser Wilhelm II, it was reconstructed with walls, gates, barracks and a headquarters building. Today it is a museum and archaeological park, and the civil settlement, or vicus, that grew up outside the fort lies east of the B 456 road. It is part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes World Heritage Site.

   Read the complete Civil settlement of Saalburg east of B 456 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 40 km into the recorded legs you reach Civil settlement of Saalburg east of B 456. Next is back through Watchtower WP 3/42*.

4. 4. back through Watchtower WP 3/42*

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/42* write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Watchtower WP 3/42*, late in the day. Next is Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22.

5. 5. Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 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 3/20 to 3/22. That is the ride.