Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE ÁSBYRGI TO DETTIFOSS HIKE
It takes around two days to hike the straightforward 35km route from Ásbyrgi down the west
side of the gorge to Dettifoss, with an overnight stop along the way at
Vesturdalur
(alternatively, the day-return hike to Vesturdalur makes a good trip in itself ). Take a tent,
cooking gear and all supplies with you; in summer, SBA (
W
sba.is) runs a daily Mývatn-Dettifoss
bus, so you could arrange to arrive or move on from here.
The
trailhead
is signposted behind Ásbyrgi's National Parks Visitor Centre, soon climbing
along the clifftop to exit tight birch scrub onto open heathland; 3.8km from camp will find
you looking north from the rounded rocks atop of Ásbyrgi. There are
two trails
to Vesturdalur
from here; one short-cuts south (8.5km) but for a fuller view of the gorge, take the longer
track (11.5km). This crosses east over the heath for a couple of kilometres to the brink of the
gorge, where jutting rocks offer a good perch for looking down at the grey river rushing
smoothly across a shingle bed. The trail now follows the gorge south, via intermittent sections
of green heath and dark basalt, joining up with the short cut from Ásbyrgi and then entering
a brief, slow section of ashy sand. Once through this, a side track makes the short climb to
Rauðhólar
, the remains of a scoria cone whose vivid red, yellow and black gravel is a shock
after the recently monochrome backdrop. Past here you descend to
Hjóðaklettar
, where the
noise of the river - which funnels violently through a constriction at this point - is distorted by
hexagonal-columned hollows in huge, shattered cliffs. The
Vesturdalur campsite
is a couple
more kilometres away.
Over the next 8km, the trail moves above the river and then down to the marshy
Hólmatungur
, where underground springs pool up to create three short rivers which flow
quickly into the Jökulsá through some thick vegetation. The trail crosses the largest of these
tributaries, the
Hólmá
, on a bridge just above where it tumbles into the main river.
Upstream from here on the Jökulsá's east bank, the prominent face of
Vígabjarg
marks
where the formerly mighty Vígarbjargfoss ripped through a narrow gorge, before a change
in the river's course dried it to a trickle. From here it's another 8km to the 27m-high
Hafragilsfoss
, an aesthetically pleasing set of falls whose path through a row of volcanic
craters has exposed more springs, which mix their clear waters with the Jökulsá's muddier
glacial flood (there's a particularly good view of Hafragilsfoss off Route 864, on the eastern
side of the gorge).
A final tricky couple of kilometres of scrambling brings you to Dettifoss and the sealed
road south to the Ringroad; if you're not catching the bus straight away, there's a basic
campsite
nearby.
6
Dettifoss
Some 30km south of Ásbyrgi on the park's southern border,
Dettifoss waterfall
marks
where the violent, dirty-white
Jökulsá á Fjöllum river rips across a twisted basalt bed
before dropping 45m with enough force to send spray hundreds of metres skywards.
here are
lookouts
on both sides of the river, but the best - and closest - vantages are
from the east, where you can stand right at the top of the falls and look into the
outflow canyon, which is obscured by the overhanging cliff edge on the western side.
It's also worth continuing a further kilometre upstream to
Selfoss
, where a diagonal
fault across the river has created a broad, 10m-high cataract.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
JÖKULSÁRGLJÚFUR NATIONAL PARK
By bus
SBA (
W
sba.is) buses currently cover the park from
mid-June to the end of August, with two separate but
connecting buses (in both directions): between Akureyri,
Húsavík, Ásbyrgi and Dettifoss via Route 862; and Dettifoss
and Reykjahlíð (at Mývatn). Ásbyrgi is also a stop on the
year-round Akureyri-Þórshöfn bus.
Destinations from Ásbyrgi
Akureyri (1 daily; 2hr 10min),
Dettifoss (1 daily; 1hr 30min); Húsavík (2 daily; 1hr);
Kópasker (3 weekly; 30min); Þórshöfn (3 weekly; 2hr
45min); Raufarhöfn (on demand only, 3 weekly; 1hr
30min).
Destinations from Dettifoss
Akureyri (1 daily; 5hr);
Ásbyrgi (1 daily; 4hr); Húsavík (1 daily; 3hr 45min); Krafla
(1 daily; 40min), Reykjahlíð (1 daily; 1hr).
