Why this ride
154 km from Rosbach vor der Höhe to Rosbach vor der Höhe, about 2 h 53 of riding. It goes by way of Fort Schrenzer, Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber, Civil settlement of Butzbach and Watchtowers WP 4/59 to 4/71 including the.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Watchtowers WP 4/1 to 4/19a including fort and Watchtowers WP 4/59 to 4/71 including the
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 154 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 53
- 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 4/1 to 4/19a including fort
Kaiser Wilhelm II took a personal interest in the Roman frontier, and at the beginning of the twentieth century, he ordered the complete reconstruction of the Saalburg, a Roman fort on the crest of the Taunus near Bad Homburg. The result, with its walls, gates and buildings rebuilt on the original foundations, is the most complete reconstruction of a Roman fort in Germany and houses a museum of Roman life on the frontier. A few kilometres north-east, near Rosbach vor der Höhe, the ruins of the Kapersburg fort lie in the forest, and the watchtowers numbered WP 4/1 to 4/19a, on the section of the Limes running from the Taunus ridge toward the Wetterau, are part of the UNESCO listing of the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 4/1 to 4/19a including fort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 4/1 to 4/19a including fort is where the day begins. Next is Fort Schrenzer.
2. Fort Schrenzer
Butzbach sits at the northern edge of the Wetterau, a broad, fertile plain north of Frankfurt, where the Taunus ends and the land opens out into fields of wheat, sugar beet and rapeseed. The Romans prized this land, and their frontier made a long detour around it, swinging east and then south to include the Wetterau within the empire. Near Butzbach, on the Schrenzer hill, they built a small fort, the Kastell Schrenzer, to guard the frontier where it left the Taunus and began its loop around the plain. The fort and the frontier nearby are part of the frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site, and the remains, low earthworks in the woods, can be visited on foot.
Read the complete Fort Schrenzer write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fort Schrenzer comes up about 19 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber.
3. Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber
Friedberg's castle stands on a basalt ridge above the Wetterau, a walled enclosure so large it is almost a town of its own, with a tall round tower, the Adolfsturm, rising above the trees. What most visitors walking through the castle gate do not know is that they are standing on a Roman fort. The legions chose this same ridge in the first century AD, and a fort with a civil settlement grew up here, linked by road to the Limes a few kilometres to the north and west.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 36 km into the recorded legs you reach Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber. Next is Civil settlement of Butzbach.
4. Civil settlement of Butzbach
Butzbach is the sort of town that gets overlooked because it sits beside the motorway and the Frankfurt sprawl, and that is a pity, because the old centre is a proper half-timbered market town with a square worth a coffee. About a kilometre from the middle, the Romans once had a fort on the Limes, and the civil settlement, the vicus, grew up beside it. That is the story behind the label: soldiers first, then traders, wives, craftsmen and innkeepers who followed the pay.
Read the complete Civil settlement of Butzbach write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Civil settlement of Butzbach, about halfway. Next is Watchtowers WP 4/59 to 4/71 including the.
5. Watchtowers WP 4/59 to 4/71 including the
The Wetterau is a broad, fertile basin north of Frankfurt, one of the best farming landscapes in Hesse, and the Romans fenced it with a frontier that ran in a wide arc through the grain fields. This group of watchtowers, with its numbers running from 4/59 to 4/71, lies near Hungen and Lich on the eastern side, where the plain begins to rise toward the Vogelsberg. Close by stands the Eichkopf fortlet, and a few kilometres to the north the ruins of the big fort at Arnsburg lie beside the remains of a Cistercian abbey, a double dose of history under tall trees.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 4/59 to 4/71 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 4/59 to 4/71 including the sits at 71 km, about halfway. Next is back through Civil settlement of Butzbach.
6. back through Civil settlement of Butzbach
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Civil settlement of Butzbach write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Civil settlement of Butzbach comes up about 100 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber.
7. back through Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 117 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber. Next is back through Fort Schrenzer.
8. back through Fort Schrenzer
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort Schrenzer write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Fort Schrenzer, late in the day. Next is Watchtowers WP 4/1 to 4/19a including fort.
9. Watchtowers WP 4/1 to 4/19a including fort
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 4/1 to 4/19a including fort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 154 km.
Leg by leg
Watchtowers WP 4/1 to 4/19a including fort to Fort Schrenzer
Watchtowers WP 4/1 to 4/19a including fort → Fort Schrenzer is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort Schrenzer to Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber
Fort Schrenzer → Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber to Civil settlement of Butzbach
Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber → Civil settlement of Butzbach is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Civil settlement of Butzbach to Watchtowers WP 4/59 to 4/71 including the
Civil settlement of Butzbach → Watchtowers WP 4/59 to 4/71 including the is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 4/59 to 4/71 including the to back through Civil settlement of Butzbach
Watchtowers WP 4/59 to 4/71 including the → back through Civil settlement of Butzbach is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Civil settlement of Butzbach to back through Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber
back through Civil settlement of Butzbach → back through Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber to back through Fort Schrenzer
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber → back through Fort Schrenzer is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort Schrenzer to Watchtowers WP 4/1 to 4/19a including fort
back through Fort Schrenzer → Watchtowers WP 4/1 to 4/19a including fort is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.