Dynkur

Dynkur, also called Budarhalsfoss, is not a single drop but a broad flight of cascades where the Thjorsa falls roughly forty metres in stages across a wide rock shelf, splitting into many channels that rejoin below. The name means the thudding, for the sound. It sits well into the highlands above the Thjorsa's hydro schemes, and getting there means highland tracks rather than roads, which keeps visitor numbers low even in high summer. Flow is affected by the power stations upstream, so the fall people see today is not always the volume it once carried.

Highlights

• A staircase, not a plunge - about forty metres in stages across a wide shelf.
• Many channels at once - the river splitting and rejoining over the rock.
• The thudding it is named for - the sound carries before the fall is visible.
• Flow shaped by hydro - the schemes upstream affect what comes over.

When to go

July to early September, when highland tracks are open. A full day from the ring road.

What to expect

Access is genuinely highland driving with unbridged crossings on some approaches, and this is not a trip for a two-wheel-drive hire car. There is no marked path, no signage and no facilities. Weather in the interior turns quickly.

Nearby

Sigoldugljufur and Ljotipollur are in the same highland belt; Landmannalaugar is east.

Key facts