The Doubs ( ; ; ; ) is a river in far eastern France which strays into western Switzerland. It is a left-bank tributary of the Saône. It rises near Mouthe in the western Jura mountains, at and its mouth is at Verdun-sur-le-Doubs, a village and commune in Saône-et-Loire at about above sea level. It is the tenth-longest river in France.

The most populous settlement of the basin lies on its banks, Besançon. Its course includes a small waterfall and a narrow lake.

Course

From its source in Mouthe it flows northeast: a few kilometers north of the French-Swiss border, then to form the border for less distance, about 40 km. North of the Swiss town of Saint-Ursanne it turns west then southwest. South-east of Montbéliard it adopts a southwest striation or fault of the Jura Mountains, flowing so over greater distance than the flow it has traced before. It then flows into the Saône at Verdun-sur-le-Doubs about northeast of Chalon-sur-Saône.

The shape of the course resembles the silhouette of a terrier sitting upright, leaning right, with the upper part of a northeastern corner "ear" the only zone in Switzerland, there reaching Saint-Ursanne. In that country it borders or crosses the cantons Jura and Neuchâtel.

Waterfalls and lake

The falls known as the Saut du Doubs is on the French-Swiss border.

Nearby, the river, dammed up by landslide debris, forms the long, wide, winding lake, (le) Lac des Brenets. The -high Doubs Falls are at the lake's end. The falls can be reached on foot or by passenger boat.

thumb|left|250px|The Saut du Doubs

thumb|left|250px|Course of the Doubs

The Doubs flows through the following Departments of France, Cantons of Switzerland, and cities:

  • Doubs (F): Pontarlier
  • Neuchâtel (CH)
  • Jura (CH): Saint-Ursanne
  • Doubs (F): Montbéliard, Besançon
  • Jura (F): Dole
  • Saône-et-Loire (F): Verdun-sur-le-Doubs

Tributaries include: