Watchtowers WP 4/59 to 4/71 including the and Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
179 km
Riding-time estimate
3 h 04
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.
From Lich it runs 179 km to Lich; allow about 3 h 04 of riding. The stops in between: Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha, Watchtower WP 3/49*, Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the and back through Watchtower WP 3/49*. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
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 Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha.
2. 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
Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha comes up about 32 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtower WP 3/49*.
3. Watchtower WP 3/49*
High in the Taunus, the wooded hills northwest of Frankfurt, the Roman Limes followed the ridge line, and its watchtowers looked out over the forests to the north. Watchtower WP 3/49, near Schmitten and Glashütten, is one of hundreds of such posts recorded along the frontier, and today its remains lie in the woods, a low mound or a scatter of stones. The Limes path, a long-distance walking trail, follows the line through the forest, and walkers can trace the ditch and bank of the old frontier for kilometres. The whole line is part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes World Heritage site.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 61 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtower WP 3/49*. Next is Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the.
4. Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the
In the hills of the Taunus north of Wiesbaden, the Roman frontier ran along the ridges through dense forest, and between watchtowers 3/15 and 3/19 near Idstein, its line can still be traced on the ground. The Romans built an earth bank and ditch, topped with a wooden palisade, with stone watchtowers at regular intervals, close enough to see each other and signal along the line. In the forest, the bank and ditch survive as a long, low ridge and hollow, and the foundations of watchtowers appear as low mounds, sometimes with a few stones visible. The Upper Germanic and Raetian Limes, more than five hundred kilometres long, has been a World Heritage site since 2005.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha comes up about 149 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 4/59 to 4/71 including the.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 4/59 to 4/71 including the closes the day.
Leg by leg
Watchtowers WP 4/59 to 4/71 including the to Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha
Watchtowers WP 4/59 to 4/71 including the → Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha to Watchtower WP 3/49*
Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha → Watchtower WP 3/49* is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 3/49* to Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the
Watchtower WP 3/49* → Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the to back through Watchtower WP 3/49*
Watchtowers WP 3/15 to 3/19 including the → back through Watchtower WP 3/49* is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 3/49* to back through Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha
back through Watchtower WP 3/49* → back through Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha to Watchtowers WP 4/59 to 4/71 including the
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha → Watchtowers WP 4/59 to 4/71 including the is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.