Watchtowers WP 4/59 to 4/71 including the and Fortlets and site of the fort and civil se
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
333 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 25
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.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 333 km round trip from Lich - roughly 5 h 25 in the saddle. The stops in between: Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl, Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha, Watchtower WP 3/38* and Fortlets and site of the fort and civil se. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 4/59 to 4/71 including the is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl.
2. Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl
Out here on the eastern rim of the Wetterau, between Altenstadt, Hammersbach and the Büdingen forest, the Roman frontier did something unusual. Having come over the Taunus and swung north around the fertile plain, the Limes turned and ran almost due south towards the Main, enclosing the Wetterau like a hand cupped around something precious. The towers numbered WP 4/82 to 5/8, along with small fortlets, guarded this eastern flank, and their remains lie in fields and woodland edges where only a shallow bank or a marker stone gives them away.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl comes up about 35 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha.
3. Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha
Elvis Presley spent his military service in Friedberg, a few kilometres from here, from 1958 to 1960, and lived in a rented house in the spa town of Bad Nauheim, where fans still leave messages on the wall outside and a square in the town bears his name. But nearly two thousand years earlier, other soldiers served in this region. The Roman frontier of the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes, a World Heritage site, ran along the edge of the Taunus hills here, and at Langenhain, near Ober-Mörlen, the Romans built a fort with a civil settlement beside it, where traders, craftsmen and the families of soldiers lived. Today, the site is mostly fields and meadows, with information boards to help you imagine the walls, gates and buildings that once stood here.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 91 km into the recorded legs you reach Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha. Next is Watchtower WP 3/38*.
4. Watchtower WP 3/38*
The Taunus is a range of wooded hills north-west of Frankfurt, rising to 878 metres at the Großer Feldberg, and it has long been the city's playground, with forests, spa towns and winding roads. Through these hills ran the Upper Germanic Limes, the Roman frontier that stretched for over five hundred kilometres across Germany, and one of its watchtowers, numbered WP 3/38, stood near the village of Glashütten, close to Waldems and Königstein im Taunus.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 3/38*, about halfway. Next is Fortlets and site of the fort and civil se.
5. Fortlets and site of the fort and civil se
The western Taunus is wonderfully empty. Away from the commuter belt around Frankfurt and Wiesbaden, the hills north of Bad Schwalbach turn into a quiet patchwork of forest, small meadows and villages in the Heidenrod municipality, and right through the middle runs the Limes. Today you find grassy outlines, a few markers and the bank and ditch disappearing into the beech woods.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 242 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl.
8. back through Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 333 km.
Leg by leg
Watchtowers WP 4/59 to 4/71 including the to Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl
Watchtowers WP 4/59 to 4/71 including the → Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl to Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha
Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl → Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha to Watchtower WP 3/38*
Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha → Watchtower WP 3/38* is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 3/38* to Fortlets and site of the fort and civil se
Watchtower WP 3/38* → Fortlets and site of the fort and civil se is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fortlets and site of the fort and civil se to back through Watchtower WP 3/38*
Fortlets and site of the fort and civil se → back through Watchtower WP 3/38* is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 3/38* to back through Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha
back through Watchtower WP 3/38* → back through Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha to back through Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha → back through Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl to Watchtowers WP 4/59 to 4/71 including the
back through Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl → Watchtowers WP 4/59 to 4/71 including the is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.