Iceland Silverkey (Mickaël Delcey) · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
40 metres, to scale.
A slice through Almannagjá where it is deepest and narrowest, measured on the Copernicus relief model every 30 m. Same scale as the landmark standing on the floor.
Standing on the floor, to scale: Great Pyramid · 139 m
Depth is measured to the lower rim; the width is from rim to rim. A 30 m relief model smooths the narrowest walls, so a slot canyon reads shallower than it is. On one side the ground was still rising 12 km out: the true rim is further away and the canyon deeper.
40m
Depth
the relief model measures 213 m
18.2km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
29°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
7.7km
Length
Rim to floor
4 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 15 °C on the floor, against 11 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from June to August. The rim freezes at night from October to April.
- 0°-4°Jan
- 0°-4°Feb
- 1°-3°Mar
- 5°1°Apr
- 9°5°May
- 13°9°Jun
- 15°11°Jul
- 14°10°Aug
- 10°6°Sep
- 5°1°Oct
- 1°-3°Nov
- 0°-4°Dec
Afternoon highs, 1991–2020 averages (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the rim and of the floor with the standard lapse rate (6.5 °C per 1 000 m). Shade, wind and rock change this on the day. Not a forecast.
Canyon in Iceland
Almannagjá is a canyon in Iceland, cut by the Öxará river. The relief model measures 213 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 624 m to the higher one. The published depth is 40 m. It runs for 7.7 km. Rim to rim it is 18 km wide where the cut was taken. It lies within Thingvellir National Park. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Getting there.
- Parking 1,940 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Þingvellirnearest viewpoint · 2.4 km from the floor
- Reykjavík Domestic Airport (RKV)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 42 km in a straight lineCar hire at RKV airport (Reykjavík)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From June to Augustbest months to hike (estimate)
Plan the visit
Guided hikes, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The river
The Öxará runs highest from November to May.
The Öxará carries about 27 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from November to May.
- 52 m³/sJan
- 53 m³/sFeb
- 50 m³/sMar
- 52 m³/sApr
- 37 m³/sMay
- 22 m³/sJun
- 15 m³/sJul
- 17 m³/sAug
- 36 m³/sSep
- 35 m³/sOct
- 37 m³/sNov
- 50 m³/sDec
From about 15 m³/s in the lowest month to 53 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 521 km².
The Öxará from source to mouth on Riveryas — coming soon
Estimate: long-term flow from the HydroATLAS model (WaterGAP, 1971–2000) shaped by the monthly rain, snow and temperature of the area (NASA POWER). Dams change it. Not a forecast.
From the sky.
The canyon from above, with the relief shaded, the line of the cut, the river and what people have mapped around it.
N
6 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 24 × 24 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 8viewpoints within 5 kmÞingvellir, Öxarárfoss, Útsýnispallur við Hrafnagjá and 5 more
- 1marked hiking routes within 4 kmÞingvellir
- 11footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmValhallarvegur and 10 more
- 1named waterfalls within 4 kmÖxarárfoss
- 27car parks within 3 km
- 19information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 5campsites within 8 kmHvannabrekka, Fagrabrekka, Vatnskot and 2 more
- 1hotels and guesthouses within 8 km
- 2restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- swimming spots within 3 km
- caves within 3 km
- bus stops within 2 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the floor of the canyon. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
In our other atlases
What else is around Almannagjá.
The river that carved it, the waterfalls inside it, the mountains on the rim, the lakes, beaches and island nearby — from our six sister atlases, each with its own figures.
Riveryas1 rivers in the canyon
Cascadyas1 waterfalls nearbyComing soon
Peakyas10 mountains within 15 km
Lakeyas7 lakes within 15 kmComing soonFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Month by month
The weather, at the floor and at the rim.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon · floor | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Afternoon · rim | -4 | -4 | -3 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 1 | -3 | -4 |
| Night · rim | -9 | -9 | -8 | -5 | -2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | -4 | -7 | -9 |
| Rain (mm) | 160 | 148 | 141 | 111 | 86 | 76 | 92 | 101 | 154 | 123 | 129 | 159 |
| Rainy days | 20 | 19 | 20 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 20 |
| Sun hours/day | 0.3 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 6.9 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 6.9 | 5.9 | 3.6 | 2.2 | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 29 | 30 | 31 | 15 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 16 | 20 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 0 | -4 | -9 | 160 | 0.3 |
| Feb | 0 | -4 | -9 | 148 | 1.0 |
| Mar | 1 | -3 | -8 | 141 | 4.0 |
| Apr | 5 | 1 | -5 | 111 | 6.9 |
| May | 9 | 5 | -2 | 86 | 8.2 |
| Jun | 13 | 9 | 2 | 76 | 8.2 |
| Jul | 15 | 11 | 4 | 92 | 6.9 |
| Aug | 14 | 10 | 3 | 101 | 5.9 |
| Sep | 10 | 6 | 0 | 154 | 3.6 |
| Oct | 5 | 1 | -4 | 123 | 2.2 |
| Nov | 1 | -3 | -7 | 129 | 0.5 |
| Dec | 0 | -4 | -9 | 159 | 0.4 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (99 m) and the rim (723 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
Photographs
Seen from the trail.
Recent years
Wet years, dry years.
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 154% | 84% | 104% | 114% | 127% | 130% | 76% | 149% | 124% | 54% | 102% | 78% |
| 2021 | 67% | 52% | 117% | 94% | 49% | 130% | 103% | 94% | 138% | 103% | 151% | 69% |
| 2022 | 165% | 74% | 174% | 74% | 114% | 134% | 130% | 124% | 74% | 74% | 36% | 30% |
| 2023 | 89% | 164% | 29% | 72% | 254% | 165% | 23% | 75% | 84% | 106% | 57% | 80% |
| 2024 | 88% | 71% | 52% | 66% | 137% | 124% | 134% | 99% | 68% | 122% | 129% | 136% |
| 2025 | 93% | 121% | 138% | 62% | 106% | 121% | 127% | 92% | 90% | 109% | 32% | 75% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Almannagjá
Iceland
- 40 mDepth
- 18 kmRim to rim
- 7.7 kmLength
- 29°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q16419351) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| River flow and basin | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Viewpoints, trails, bridges and the river line | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Rivers, waterfalls, mountains, lakes, beaches and islands nearby | Coastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
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