The Verdon (, ) is a river in Southeastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, left tributary of the

Durance The Durance (; ''Durença'' in the Occitan classical norm or ''Durènço'' in the Mistralian norm) is a major river in Southeastern France. A left tributary of the Rhône, it is long. Its drainage basin is .Bassin versant : Verdon (Le)
Observatoire Régional Eau et Milieux Aquatiques en PACA The Verdon is best known for its impressive

canyon A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to cu ...

: the

Verdon Gorge The Verdon Gorge (French: ''Gorges du Verdon'') is a river canyon located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. It is about 25 km (15.5 mi) long and up to 700 metres (0.4 mi) deep. It was formed by the ...

. This limestone canyon, also called the "Grand Canyon of Verdon", long and more than deep, is a popular climbing and sight-seeing area. The name comes from the green appearance of the waters of the river, in the canyon.

Course

Its source is at an elevation of , in the southwestern part of the

French Alps The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such as ...

(

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Alpes-de-Haute-Provence or sometimes abbreviated as AHP (; oc, Aups d'Auta Provença; ) is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, bordering Alpes-Maritimes and Italy to the east, Var to the south, Vaucluse to the w ...

), between the

Col d'Allos Col d'Allos (elevation ) is a high mountain pass in the Alps in the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in France. It connects Barcelonnette in the Ubaye Valley and Colmars. It lies parallel to the Col de la Cayolle and Col de la Bonette west ...

and the Trois Évêchés mountain, south of

Barcelonnette Barcelonnette (; oc, Barciloneta de Provença, also ; obsolete it, Barcellonetta) is a commune of France and a subprefecture in the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It is located in the souther ...

. It flows southwest through the following

departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

and towns: *

Allos Allos (; oc, Alòs) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Allos is a high mountain commune in the southern Alps. The commune experienced a significant rural exo ...

Colmars Colmars or Colmars-les-Alpes (''Còumars'' in provençal) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. The official name of the commune, according to the geographical code of the INSEE, is "Colmars", but it ...

Saint-André-les-Alpes Saint-André-les-Alpes (; oc, Sant Andrieu) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department The following is a list of the 198 communes ...

Castellane Castellane (; Provençal: ''Castelana'') is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. With about 1,600 inhabitants, Castellane has the distinction of being the least-populated sub-prefecture of France. Its inh ...

* Var:

Vinon-sur-Verdon Vinon-sur-Verdon (; oc, Vinon de Verdon) is a commune in the northwestern part of the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. The town is on the left bank of the river Verdon near the Gorges du Verdon. ...

The Verdon flows through several artificial lakes, before flowing into the river Durance near

, south of

Manosque Manosque (; Provençal Occitan: ''Manòsca'' in classical norm or ''Manosco'' in Mistralian norm) is the largest town and commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. However, it is not the ''préfecture'' (capital) ...

. Its main tributaries are the Artuby, Colostre, Jabron and Issole. Grand Canyon du Verdon 2.JPG, Verdon Gorge Lac-saintecroix-gorges-verdon2.jpg, Verdon River

References

Rivers of France Rivers of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Rivers of Var (department) Rivers of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Braided rivers in France {{France-river-stub