Bruarfoss

Bruarfoss is not tall - the drop is a few metres - and its reputation rests entirely on colour: the Bruara carries glacial meltwater whose suspended rock flour scatters light into a blue that is stronger here than at most Icelandic falls, running through a series of narrow chutes into a pool. The name means bridge falls, from a natural rock arch that once spanned the river and, in one account, was deliberately destroyed to control who could cross. Access changed in recent years: the old route ran past summer houses and through private land, relations broke down, and it was closed - the current approach is a marked path of about three and a half kilometres each way from a designated car park.

What you actually see

• A short but intensely blue fall - rock flour scattering light in the chutes.
• Narrow chutes into a pool - the shape that concentrates the colour.
• A bridge that is gone - the natural arch the name remembers.
• A rerouted approach - the old shortcut closed after access disputes.

When to go

May to September. Half a day including the walk.

Honest expectations

It is a seven-kilometre round walk on a path that is muddy in wet weather - not a roadside stop, and people still arrive expecting one. Parking is charged. Do not use the old route past the summer houses. The colour is weaker on grey days.

Nearby

Geysir and Gullfoss are north-east; Laugarvatn is west.