Gjain

Gjain is a hollow perhaps a couple of hundred metres across, cut below the level of the surrounding plateau, and the contrast is what makes it: the valley around is grey tephra and scrub, and this drops into moss, birch, ferns and running water. Small waterfalls come in over the rim, columns of basalt stand in the walls, and the stream braids between them. It is beside Stong, the farm Hekla buried in 1104, so the two are visited together. Its scale surprises people who arrive expecting a canyon - this is intimate, walked in twenty minutes, and it has been used for filming, which is how many first saw it.

Background

Gjáin is a small valley in Þjórsárdalur, in the south of Iceland, full of little waterfalls, ponds and volcanic formations, about half an hour's walk from the historical farm of Stöng. The river Rauðá runs through it and falls as Gjárfoss, and the green hollow of moss, birch and ferns stands out against the grey tephra of the valley around it.

Source: Wikipedia, "Gjáin"

Highlights

• A green hollow in grey ground - the contrast with the ash valley around.
• Falls over the rim - small streams dropping into the ravine.
• Basalt columns in the walls - standing among moss and birch.
• Stong beside it - the farm Hekla buried in 1104.

When to go

June to September; the access road closes with snow. Two hours including Stong.

Good to know

This is small, and visitors expecting a gorge find it modest. The ground is wet moss that damages easily, so keeping to worn ground matters. Road 327 has a ford that hire cars are often not insured for. No facilities.

Nearby

Haifoss is up the valley; Hjalparfoss is at its mouth.

Key facts