Why this ride
142 km from Echzell to Echzell, about 2 h 23 of riding. It goes by way of Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57, Fort Schrenzer, Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber and Civil settlement of Butzbach.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the and Civil settlement of Butzbach
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 142 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 23
- 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 4/76 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 is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57.
2. 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 comes up about 21 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fort Schrenzer.
3. 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
about 37 km into the recorded legs you reach Fort Schrenzer. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber.
4. 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
Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber, about halfway. Next is Civil settlement of Butzbach.
5. 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 sits at 68 km, about halfway. Next is back through Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber.
6. 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
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber comes up about 88 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Fort Schrenzer.
7. 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
about 104 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Fort Schrenzer. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57.
8. back through 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
back through Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57, late in the day. Next is Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the.
9. 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
The route ends here after 142 km.
Leg by leg
Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the to Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57
Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the → Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57 is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57 to Fort Schrenzer
Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57 → Fort Schrenzer is 16 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 back through Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber
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 back through Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57
back through Fort Schrenzer → back through Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57 is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57 to Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the
back through Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57 → Watchtowers WP 4/76 to 4/80 including the is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.