Le Doubs river, located in NW Switzerland, creates a natural border between Switzerland and France. Portions of the river are dammed up creating meandering lakes, waterfalls and rapids. I entered at Les Brenets (marked with a circle on map) since the Lac des Brenets/Lac de Moron located a few km north appears to be inaccessible with hiking paths running along the ridge of the steep walls on either side. I will look more into the possibilities of this.
I spent about 4 1/2 hrs. leisurely paddling on the lake. The blue line marks areas where I walked, including lunch break at the north end of the lake, crossing a foot bridge to rocks along the rapids. Free parking is available in Les Brenets, about 250m from the waters edge.
Date of trip: April 11, 2011
Here are the map coordinates for where I entered the lake.
Here are the map coordinates for where I entered the lake.
Latitude: 47° 4'5.36"N
Longitude: 6°41'50.62"E
Google map link
Pros: The northern end of the lake is surrounded on both sides by high rock walls and forests preventing the area from being developed with houses, roads, etc. This end is more interesting than the southern area of the lake. There is no noticeable current. The southern end (from Les Brenets) is worth exploring with the view of the towns and a variety of birds nesting in the brush.
Cons: I highly recommend going before or after the tourist season as the area becomes heavily congested with boats and hikers. Parking would also be difficult to find. I completely missed the crowds by going mid-April on a weekday (Monday). There were no other boats on the lake that day except for the occasional tour boats every 1/2+ hr.
Closing comments: Le Doubs river has several stretches that have remained undeveloped due to inaccessibility. This makes for some amazing views of nature and an escape from crowds and noise.
Longitude: 6°41'50.62"E
Google map link
Pros: The northern end of the lake is surrounded on both sides by high rock walls and forests preventing the area from being developed with houses, roads, etc. This end is more interesting than the southern area of the lake. There is no noticeable current. The southern end (from Les Brenets) is worth exploring with the view of the towns and a variety of birds nesting in the brush.
Cons: I highly recommend going before or after the tourist season as the area becomes heavily congested with boats and hikers. Parking would also be difficult to find. I completely missed the crowds by going mid-April on a weekday (Monday). There were no other boats on the lake that day except for the occasional tour boats every 1/2+ hr.
Closing comments: Le Doubs river has several stretches that have remained undeveloped due to inaccessibility. This makes for some amazing views of nature and an escape from crowds and noise.
Hi Tim,
ReplyDeleteI stumbled on your blog after watching your video on youtube. I have familly in the region of the Doubs so I was very interested to read about your trip in the river.
Do you remember if there were any difficultys in terms of kayaking skills. My wife is a beginner and I do not want to take her into a Class 2,3,4 environement, it's just to early.
Hopefully I will come and visit the Doubs in the springtime.
Cheers Roy
Hi Roy,
ReplyDeleteThere is no difficulty to paddle on the actual section I paddled on due to the damming of the river at both ends.
The entire stretch of the lake was calm and there was almost no current when going up-stream from the lake. That part was more like a narrow winding "canal" where a relaxed paddle will take you upstream. You can even pause along the way without worrying about being pulled by a current.
I would suggest kayaking starting in the morning and on the off-tourist time to avoid the waves from the increased traffic from the larger sightseeing boats on the lake. I went in April. It was so peaceful when I was there. There was a dam at the downstream (northern) end of the lake where I took the boat out and walked 5 min. for a beautiful view of the white water below the dam – you saw in my video. I sat on the rocks to eat lunch then returned to my kayak sitting by the lake.
There are small dams all along the river creating rough and calm sections. I looked for the longest stretch of calm water that I could easily access by car. I have a longer sea kayak so it was well suited for this long stretch of lake.