Côtes du Doubs
Description
The tour along the Doubs begins in La Chaux-de-Fonds. After the small airfield, you climb the range of hills between the Doubs and La Chaux-de-Fonds and then head directly down to the Saut du Doubs via several single trails. Watch out: The descent includes a short passage over a rocky staircase with a retaining chain. The waterfall is a special sight - here the Doubs plunges 27 meters through a rock gate and marks the spectacular start of the trail along the river.
From now on, the route always follows the right bank of the Doubs. A first-class trail runs almost continuously as far as Maison Monsieur. In this part of the valley, you often feel far away from civilization. Caution: Immediately after the waterfall, bicycles are also prohibited on a short section. After Lac de Moron, however, there is no longer such a ban.
After Maison Monsieur, the route is characterized more by gravel roads, repeatedly interspersed with flowing singletrail sections. Farms and open spaces increasingly break up the narrow valley. Shortly before St-Ursanne, the route switches to the left bank of the river and offers another particularly beautiful section of trail. However, if you want to save your strength, stay on the cycle route on the right-hand side.
You cover almost 80 kilometers on this extraordinary route. The tour can only be completed in a single day thanks to the high proportion of gravel roads. It ends in picturesque St-Ursanne, from where you can easily return by train.
Tip: The ideal starting point is Biel/Bienne. From there, you can take the train to La Chaux-de-Fonds in the morning and return directly from St-Ursanne after the tour.
Note: If you want to shorten the tour, start in Les Brenets and ride directly to the Saut du Doubs from there.
Map & GPX-Track
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Details of the tour
79 km
1160 m
1650 m
436 above sea level
1158 above sea level
1 day
Chaux-de-Fonds
Saint-Ursanne
1308
well suited
More information
More tours nearby
User comments (2)
About the author: Thomas Giger
Note: This content has been automatically translated from German. Please report any incorrect translations.
I rode the tour in mid-August 2025 as a day tour with an e-mountain bike. After the waterfall, we took the trail that has a ban on bikes. We met two hikers - at the weekend in high season. Conclusion: A really great and very long tour, often far away from civilization. A bit of gravel road in the lower part, but that's part of it. With an e-bike, I would only ride via Les Brenets to the Saut du Doubs because there are several of these tedious fence passages on the trail over the ridge.
We rode the tour in 2 days at the end of May 2023:
- The (red dotted) trail between the Barrage du Chatelot (dam wall) and the power station is quite exposed in between. In addition to riding technique, you have to "lose yourself" to enjoy the ride.
- Shortly before la Charbonnière (broom pub!), we switched to the north side of the Doubs (over the bridge marked 455 in swisstopo). This trail is super flowy to ride