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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57 and Watchtowers WP 4/1 to 4/19a including fort

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
150 km
Riding-time estimate
2 h 47
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.

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Why this ride

A 150 km round trip from Lich - roughly 2 h 47 in the saddle. On the way it passes Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the, Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber, Fort Schrenzer and Watchtowers WP 4/1 to 4/19a including fort.

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 Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the.

  2. 2. Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the

    Echzell is a small town on the edge of the Wetterau with a very big Roman past. A large fort stood here, one of the main garrison points on the Upper Germanic Limes, and the civil settlement beside it grew into a busy town, with workshops, shops, baths and an inn for travellers. Little is visible above ground today, but the outline of the fort is known, and the watchtowers numbered 4/76 to 4/80 stretch away along the frontier line. The numbers belong to the old survey system, and the line of towers, ditch and palisade ran through fields that are now farmland.

    Read the complete Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 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 4/76 to 4/80 including the comes up about 20 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber.

  3. 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 38 km into the recorded legs you reach Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber. Next is Fort Schrenzer.

  4. 4. 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, about halfway. Next is Watchtowers WP 4/1 to 4/19a including fort.

  5. 5. 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 sits at 71 km, about halfway. Next is back through Fort Schrenzer.

  6. 6. 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 comes up about 93 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber.

  7. 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 109 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the.

  8. 8. back through Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the 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 4/76 to 4/80 including the, 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 150 km.

Leg by leg

Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57 to Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the

Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57 → Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the to Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber

Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the → Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber to Fort Schrenzer

Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber → Fort Schrenzer is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Fort Schrenzer to Watchtowers WP 4/1 to 4/19a including fort

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.

Watchtowers WP 4/1 to 4/19a including fort to back through Fort Schrenzer

Watchtowers WP 4/1 to 4/19a including fort → back through Fort Schrenzer is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Fort Schrenzer to back through Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber

back through Fort Schrenzer → back through Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber is 16 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 Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the

back through Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber → back through Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the to Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57

back through Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the → Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57 is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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