Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68 and Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68

   Between Öhringen and Mainhardt, the Upper German Limes does something a Roman engineer must have been proud of: it runs dead straight for many kilometres, up hill and down dale, ignoring the terrain as if drawn with a ruler on a map. The watchtower sites numbered along this section lie on that line, in the Hohenlohe country of northern Württemberg, between the open farmland around Pfedelbach and the dark wooded hills of the Swabian-Franconian Forest.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68 is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59.

2. 2. Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59

   The Romans called it the edge of the world they cared about, and in the Rems valley east of Schwäbisch Gmünd you can still trace where they drew the line. A string of watchtower sites, numbered by archaeologists along the stretch between Mögglingen, Heuchlingen and Böbingen, marks the course of the Raetian Limes, the frontier that guarded the province of Raetia in the second and third centuries. Here the frontier was a stone wall, which later locals, puzzled by the long ruined bank, called the Teufelsmauer, the Devil's Wall.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59 comes up about 60 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho.

3. 3. Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho

   There is nothing to climb at Ruffenhofen, and that is the clever part. The Roman fort here, on gently rising ground above the Wörnitz near Weiltingen and Wittelshofen, has never been rebuilt in stone. Instead, the outline of the walls, gates and the buildings of the settlement around it has been traced across the fields with hedges, trees and mown strips, so the whole place reads like a plan drawn in plants. From the little viewing hill you can see the shape of a garrison that has been underground for seventeen centuries.

   Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 118 km into the recorded legs you reach Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59.

4. 4. back through Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59 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 12/40 to 12/59, late in the day. Next is Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68.

5. 5. Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68. That is the ride.