After eating pizza in Egilsstadir, we decided nothing would be better on a full stomach than a waterfall hike before checking into our hotel. Fardagafoss is east of town and has a small parking lot. We had only two other groups there as we hiked. The views of the river valley were fantastic.

Supposedly there is a female troll who lives in the large cave behind Fardagafoss and keeps her pot of gold suspended in Gufufoss, the lower falls that are hidden at the trailhead. In the 18th Century, a notorious (is there any other kind?) outlaw, Fjalla-Eyvindur, tried to hide out with his wife Halla in the cave, but the townspeople drove them away.

Dettifoss is Europe’s most powerful waterfall and Selfoss is located just upriver. One park will let you walk along the rim of the canyon to see both. There are viewing spots on the east and west side, but it takes a lot of driving to see these waterfalls from both sides. We chose the west side with the nicer road and large parking lot. The east side has a dirt road, a much smaller space to park, a more rugged (fun!) trail, and smaller crowds. The east side also has access to Hafragilsfoss with great views of the canyon, which we did not see. Next time!

There was a landslide next to the west viewing platform on June 5, 2025, so the path along the falls from the viewing platform to the middle viewing area is closed. We had a safer, but no-view-of-the-falls path to take back to the middle viewing area. The wind was pushing the mist away from us today, and we still got wet on the bottom viewing platform. Dettifoss is really loud.

Godafoss, “God Falls” was so named when the chieftain at the 1000 Althing decided that Icelanders should become Christian and threw his pagan god idols in this waterfall upon returning home. The water here is a beautiful glacial blue, and there are facilities just a short walk across a bridge. We paid to use the WC and bought t-shirts for Tony and Robert.