Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon

Fjarðrárgljúfur Canyon is one of the most beautiful and lovely canyons of Iceland. Fjaðrárgljúfur is a rugged and impressive gorge, fairly wide, about 100 m deep and about 2 km long. The river Fjaðrá runs through the canyon. The gorge runs through a soft granular hyaloclastite rock and was created about 9000 years ago at the end of the last glacial period in Iceland.

Access

Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon is easily accessible and is located only a few kilometres detour from road no. 1. Turn off road 1 about 10 km west of Kirkjuæjarklaustur and drive towards Hunkubakkar Farm and continue in the direction towards Holt farm. It is possible to approach the canyon from the Laki road and walk down to its mouth or enter the canyon from below. From the parking lot at Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon, where you find find rather basic restrooms, there are hiking trails along Fjaðrárgljúfur, both at the top of the canyon from where the canyon can be seen from viewpoints above but there is also a hiking trail at the bottom of the canyon, which is a more challenging hike as this one requires several crossing of the unbridged river and streams. There are not any restaurants near Fjaðrárgljúfur but nearest town is Kirkjubæjarklaustur, about 10 kilometers further to the east on road number 1 where various services are available to travelers.