Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57 and Watchtower WP 1/73

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57

   The Wetterau is the broad, fertile plain north of Frankfurt, between the Taunus and the Vogelsberg, and the Romans considered it so valuable that they bent their frontier around it to include it in the empire. The Limes ran along the northern edge of the plain, and the watchtowers numbered WP 4/53 to 4/57, near the town of Lich, stood on this section, part of the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes listed by UNESCO in 2005. Like most watchtowers, they survive only as mounds or traces in the fields and forest, but the line of the frontier can be followed on foot or by bicycle.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57 is where the day begins. Next is Fortlet Lochmühle.

2. 2. Fortlet Lochmühle

   The Lochmühle is a small fortlet on the Limes in the Taunus, near Wehrheim and the famous Saalburg, and it guarded a spot where the frontier crossed the valley of the Erlenbach stream. Fortlets like this were small outposts, housing a handful of soldiers who watched the border and controlled traffic, and they formed a link between the watchtowers and the larger forts. Its remains are modest, but the location, in a quiet valley surrounded by forest, has a peaceful charm. The name comes from a nearby mill, now a popular leisure park for families with play areas and farm animals.

   Read the complete Fortlet Lochmühle write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Fortlet Lochmühle comes up about 36 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtower WP 3/23*.

3. 3. Watchtower WP 3/23*

   On the wooded ridges near Idstein, the Taunus Limes crossed some of its highest and most remote ground, and Watchtower WP 3/23 is one of the many sites along this stretch. The asterisk in the official label suggests a site whose exact location is uncertain or reconstructed from survey work, which is common along the frontier, where many towers survive only as faint mounds in the forest. Still, walking the Limes trail here, with the bank and ditch running through the beech woods, gives a real sense of the Roman border.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/23* write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 97 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtower WP 3/23*. Next is Watchtower WP 2/31.

4. 4. Watchtower WP 2/31

   Holzhausen an der Haide is a small village on the high ground of the western Taunus, between the Rhine and the Lahn, and it has one of the better-preserved Roman fort sites along the Limes. The stone walls of Kastell Holzhausen still stand to a modest height in the fields just outside the village, outlining the fort's rectangle with its rounded corners and gates. Watchtower WP 2/31 belongs to the chain of towers that linked forts like this one along the frontier, and in this open landscape you can easily imagine the signals passing from hill to hill.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 2/31 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Watchtower WP 2/31, about halfway. Next is Watchtower WP 1/73.

5. 5. Watchtower WP 1/73

   The Roman frontier in Germany starts at the Rhine near Rheinbrohl and climbs into the hills of the Westerwald, and Watchtower WP 1/73, near Hillscheid, belongs to that first stretch. The numbers tell you where you are: section one, tower seventy-three. All that survives is a low mound in the woods, but in the second and third centuries it was a stone tower with a view over the frontier line and, behind it, the palisade and ditch that ran across the landscape. The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes has been part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire since 2005, and this is where it all begins.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/73 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Watchtower WP 1/73 sits at 141 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtower WP 2/31.

6. 6. back through Watchtower WP 2/31

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 2/31 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 2/31 comes up about 209 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Watchtower WP 3/23*.

7. 7. back through Watchtower WP 3/23*

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/23* write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 260 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Watchtower WP 3/23*. Next is back through Fortlet Lochmühle.

8. 8. back through Fortlet Lochmühle

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Fortlet Lochmühle write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Fortlet Lochmühle, late in the day. Next is Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57.

9. 9. Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57 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 335 km.