The Forest of Chaux is the fifth largest forest in France. Its 20,493 hectares are located in the region of

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou dialect, Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; ; also ; ; all ) is a cultural and Provinces of France, historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of France, departments of Doub ...

on the plains west of the

Jura mountains The Jura Mountains ( ) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the French–Swiss border. While the Jura range proper (" folded Jura", ) is located in France and Switzerla ...

. Exploitation of the forest dates back to the thirteenth century, and there is an ancient tradition of raftsmen floating timber down the

Loue The Loue () is a river of eastern France, a left tributary of the Doubs, which it joins downstream of Dole. It is long. Its source is a karst spring in the Jura mountains near Ouhans, which at least partly receives its water from the Doubs. Th ...

to the

Saône The Saône ( , ; ; ) is a river in eastern France (modern Regions of France, region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté). It is a right tributary of the Rhône, rising at Vioménil in the Vosges (department), Vosges Departments of France, department an ...

and the Rhone, and thence to the Mediterranean. Today, the "Confrérie Saint Nicolas" maintains the raftsman tradition on the Loue. When Franche-Comté became part of France in 1678, the Crown took possession of the Forest because of its potential for supplying timber for the Royal navy. In 1779,

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

ordered the construction of the

Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans The Saline Royale (Royal Saltworks) is a historical complex at Arc-et-Senans in the department of Doubs commissioned during the reign of Louis XVI (1774-92) and designed by Claude-Nicolas Ledoux. The complex is listed as the World Heritage Si ...

near the forest so that the works could use its wood to produce salt by boiling brine.

References

Chaux Geography of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region articles needing translation from French Wikipedia {{Franche-geo-stub