Hengifoss

Hengifoss drops around 128 metres into a gorge, and the interest is as much in the wall behind it as the water: the cliff is banded, dark basalt layers separated by bright red-brown lines, and each red band is a soil that formed on top of one lava flow before the next buried it. Some of those layers hold fossil plant remains. The walk up passes Litlanesfoss, a smaller fall framed by unusually tall and regular basalt columns, which many people rate higher than the main event. The path is steady uphill on gravel and steps, about forty-five minutes each way from the car park by Lagarfljot.

The landscape

• A 128 metre drop - into a banded gorge.
• Red clay layers - old soils between successive lava flows.
• Litlanesfoss on the way - tall regular columns framing a smaller fall.
• Forty-five minutes uphill - the walk in from the lake road.

When to go

May to September; the path is icy and steep in winter. Two to three hours.

Things to know

The climb is continuous and catches people out in the wrong shoes. Wind funnels up the gorge. Parts of the path run near unfenced edges. Facilities are toilets at the car park and nothing beyond.

Nearby

Hallormsstadur forest is across the lake; Egilsstadir is at its northern end.

Key facts