CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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 Glashütten it runs 307 km to Glashütten; allow about 4 h 35 of riding. It goes by way of Signaltower Johannisberg, Fort site and civil settlement of Rückinge, Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p and Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 39 km this is German Fairy Tale Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
High in the Taunus hills northwest of Frankfurt, the Upper German Limes runs along the main ridge, and here, between Glashütten and Schmitten, a series of watchtower sites and the remains of a small fort follow the frontier through dense beech and spruce forest. The bank and ditch of the Limes are still clearly visible, winding over the hills like a long scar, and the area is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site. Nearby, on the Kleiner Feldberg, lie the remains of a Roman fort, and a few kilometres east, the Saalburg near Bad Homburg is a fully reconstructed fort with a museum, the best place in Germany to imagine life on the frontier.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 3/45 to 3/52 including the write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtowers WP 3/45 to 3/52 including the is where the day begins. Next is Signaltower Johannisberg.
On a hill above Bad Nauheim, the Johannisberg, the Romans built a signal tower that could communicate with the frontier forts of the Wetterau, the fertile plain that bulges north of Frankfurt and was protected by a long loop of the Limes. The site, with a later medieval chapel and a modern observation tower, gives wide views over the plain and the Taunus hills, and it is part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes World Heritage listing. On a clear day you can see the towers of Frankfurt on the horizon.
Read the complete Signaltower Johannisberg write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Signaltower Johannisberg comes up about 43 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Rückinge.
East of Frankfurt, on the low ground where the Kinzig valley opens toward Hanau, the Romans pushed their frontier forward in the late first century AD. Rückingen, today a part of Erlensee, was the site of a fort with a civil settlement around it, part of the Wetterau section of the Upper German-Raetian Limes, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Limes here ran south toward the Main, and the forts guarded crossings and roads leading into the Roman province. As with most of the frontier in this area, there is little to see above ground, but the line of the Limes is marked and explained along cycle and walking routes.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Rückinge write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 81 km into the recorded legs you reach Fort site and civil settlement of Rückinge. Next is Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p.
Niedernberg is a quiet village on the left bank of the Main, a few kilometres downstream from Aschaffenburg, where the river was the Roman frontier. The Upper German-Raetian Limes, after running across the Odenwald, used the Main as its boundary between Großkrotzenburg and Miltenberg, and a fort with a civil settlement stood at Niedernberg, guarding the river line. The northern part of the civil settlement is listed separately as part of the UNESCO site. There is little to see above ground, as the remains lie under fields and houses, but the location by the river makes the Roman logic clear.
Read the complete Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p, about halfway. Next is Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl.
At Miltenberg, the Roman frontier did something unusual: it stopped being a wall and became a river. North of the town, the Main served as the frontier for some fifty kilometres, guarded by forts and watchtowers along its western bank, and here, where the river bends, the land frontier began again, heading south through the Odenwald. The watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 belong to this stretch, and while most are only traces in fields and forests, they are part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire. The Romans built forts at Miltenberg, too, and some of their finds are displayed in the town museum.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl sits at 147 km, about halfway. Next is back through Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p comes up about 186 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Fort site and civil settlement of Rückinge.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Rückinge write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 224 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Fort site and civil settlement of Rückinge. Next is back through Signaltower Johannisberg.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Signaltower Johannisberg write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Signaltower Johannisberg, late in the day. Next is Watchtowers WP 3/45 to 3/52 including the.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 3/45 to 3/52 including the write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 307 km.
Watchtowers WP 3/45 to 3/52 including the → Signaltower Johannisberg is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Signaltower Johannisberg → Fort site and civil settlement of Rückinge is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Rückinge → Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p → Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl → back through Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p → back through Fort site and civil settlement of Rückinge is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Rückinge → back through Signaltower Johannisberg is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Signaltower Johannisberg → Watchtowers WP 3/45 to 3/52 including the is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.