Iceland Ilya Grigorik · CC BY-SA 3.0
The cut
270 metres, to scale.
A slice through Eldgjá 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.
270m
Depth
the relief model measures 292 m
14.9km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
17°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
75km
Length
Rim to floor
2 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 11 °C on the floor, against 9 °C on the rim. The rim freezes at night from October to April.
- -1°-3°Jan
- -1°-3°Feb
- 0°-2°Mar
- 2°0°Apr
- 6°4°May
- 10°7°Jun
- 11°9°Jul
- 10°8°Aug
- 7°5°Sep
- 3°1°Oct
- 0°-2°Nov
- -1°-3°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.
Volcano and a canyon in Iceland
Eldgjá is a canyon in Iceland, cut by the Norðari-Ófæra river. The relief model measures 292 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 339 m to the higher one. It runs for 75 km. Rim to rim it is 15 km wide where the cut was taken. It lies within Vatnajökull National Park. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Getting there.
- Parking 1,980 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 2.2 km from the floor
- Reykjavík Domestic Airport (RKV)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 163 km in a straight lineCar hire at RKV airport (Reykjavík)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
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 Norðari-Ófæra runs highest from September to June.
The Norðari-Ófæra carries about 60 m³/s on average here.
- 124 m³/sJan
- 111 m³/sFeb
- 95 m³/sMar
- 130 m³/sApr
- 152 m³/sMay
- 82 m³/sJun
- 26 m³/sJul
- 18 m³/sAug
- 88 m³/sSep
- 112 m³/sOct
- 120 m³/sNov
- 135 m³/sDec
From about 18 m³/s in the lowest month to 152 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 822 km².
The Kúðafljót 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.
- 6viewpoints within 5 kmÓfærufoss, Gígvatn and 4 more
- 2marked hiking routes within 4 kmSkælingar - Hólaskjól
- 2footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- 2named waterfalls within 4 kmÓfærufoss, Ofærufoss
- 5car parks within 3 km
- 3information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 3campsites within 8 kmSkælingar, Hólaskjól
- 2hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmHólaskjól, Skálinn við Álftavötn
- 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
- restaurants and cafés within 4 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 Eldgjá.
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
Peakyas5 mountains within 15 km
Lakeyas2 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 | -1 | -1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | -1 |
| Afternoon · rim | -3 | -3 | -2 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 1 | -2 | -3 |
| Night · rim | -8 | -8 | -8 | -5 | -2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | -3 | -6 | -8 |
| Rain (mm) | 236 | 219 | 208 | 170 | 123 | 122 | 147 | 159 | 224 | 220 | 210 | 236 |
| Rainy days | 23 | 21 | 23 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 23 |
| Sun hours/day | 0.9 | 2.6 | 6.3 | 10.2 | 11.9 | 11.0 | 9.1 | 7.4 | 5.2 | 3.4 | 1.3 | 0.7 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 50 | 64 | 75 | 56 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 20 | 32 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | -1 | -3 | -8 | 236 | 0.9 |
| Feb | -1 | -3 | -8 | 219 | 2.6 |
| Mar | 0 | -2 | -8 | 208 | 6.3 |
| Apr | 2 | 0 | -5 | 170 | 10.2 |
| May | 6 | 4 | -2 | 123 | 11.9 |
| Jun | 10 | 7 | 2 | 122 | 11.0 |
| Jul | 11 | 9 | 4 | 147 | 9.1 |
| Aug | 10 | 8 | 3 | 159 | 7.4 |
| Sep | 7 | 5 | 1 | 224 | 5.2 |
| Oct | 3 | 1 | -3 | 220 | 3.4 |
| Nov | 0 | -2 | -6 | 210 | 1.3 |
| Dec | -1 | -3 | -8 | 236 | 0.7 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (375 m) and the rim (714 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 | 111% | 100% | 91% | 102% | 109% | 118% | 79% | 122% | 117% | 64% | 85% | 88% |
| 2021 | 46% | 95% | 80% | 89% | 60% | 142% | 67% | 66% | 126% | 112% | 99% | 81% |
| 2022 | 115% | 90% | 182% | 77% | 138% | 108% | 98% | 111% | 69% | 61% | 123% | 34% |
| 2023 | 85% | 125% | 60% | 122% | 171% | 123% | 20% | 62% | 111% | 94% | 56% | 64% |
| 2024 | 89% | 66% | 88% | 62% | 109% | 103% | 103% | 131% | 69% | 85% | 92% | 98% |
| 2025 | 96% | 137% | 94% | 68% | 88% | 106% | 129% | 115% | 130% | 67% | 46% | 98% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Eldgjá
Iceland
- 270 mDepth
- 15 kmRim to rim
- 75 kmLength
- 17°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q388641) · 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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