Iceland Guillaume Baviere from Uppsala, Sweden · CC BY 2.0
The cut
100 metres, to scale.
A slice through Fjaðrárgljúfur 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: a person · 1.8 m · a two-storey house · 9.0 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.
100m
Depth
the relief model measures 52 m
2.8km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
12°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
2.0km
Length
Rim to floor
Afternoons, up top and down below.
In July the afternoon reaches 12 °C. The rim freezes at night from December to March.
- 2°1°Jan
- 2°1°Feb
- 2°2°Mar
- 5°4°Apr
- 8°7°May
- 11°11°Jun
- 12°12°Jul
- 12°12°Aug
- 9°9°Sep
- 6°5°Oct
- 3°2°Nov
- 2°1°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.
Valley in Iceland
Fjaðrárgljúfur is a canyon in Iceland, cut by the Fjaðrá river. The relief model measures 52 m from the floor to the lower rim. The published depth is 100 m. It runs for 2.0 km. Rim to rim it is 2.8 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Parking 960 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 3.0 km from the floor
- Hornafjörður Airport (HFN)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 155 km in a straight lineCar hire at HFN airport (Höfn)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 Fjaðrá, month by month.
The Fjaðrá carries about 8.7 m³/s on average here.
- 11 m³/sJan
- 10 m³/sFeb
- 5.7 m³/sMar
- 8.4 m³/sApr
- 9.4 m³/sMay
- 4.9 m³/sJun
- 7.7 m³/sJul
- 10 m³/sAug
- 19 m³/sSep
- 17 m³/sOct
- 9.7 m³/sNov
- 12 m³/sDec
From about 4.9 m³/s in the lowest month to 19 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 130 km².
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
1.5 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6.0 × 6.0 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 6viewpoints within 5 kmSkaftáreldahraun and 5 more
- 1footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- 1named waterfalls within 4 kmMögárfoss
- 5car parks within 3 km
- 6information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 2campsites within 8 kmKirkjubær II, Tjaldsvæðið Kleifar
- 7hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmGeirland, Klausturhof, Hotel Klaustur and 4 more
- marked hiking routes 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
- 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 Fjaðrárgljúfur.
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.
Peakyas2 mountains within 15 kmFigures 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 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 2 |
| Afternoon · rim | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| Night · rim | -3 | -3 | -3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 2 | -1 | -3 |
| Rain (mm) | 263 | 244 | 225 | 184 | 127 | 120 | 146 | 166 | 241 | 242 | 226 | 260 |
| Rainy days | 23 | 22 | 22 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 21 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 22 |
| 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) | 84 | 104 | 120 | 113 | 84 | 56 | 27 | 7 | 6 | 17 | 36 | 58 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 2 | 1 | -3 | 263 | 0.9 |
| Feb | 2 | 1 | -3 | 244 | 2.6 |
| Mar | 2 | 2 | -3 | 225 | 6.3 |
| Apr | 5 | 4 | 0 | 184 | 10.2 |
| May | 8 | 7 | 3 | 127 | 11.9 |
| Jun | 11 | 11 | 6 | 120 | 11.0 |
| Jul | 12 | 12 | 8 | 146 | 9.1 |
| Aug | 12 | 12 | 7 | 166 | 7.4 |
| Sep | 9 | 9 | 5 | 241 | 5.2 |
| Oct | 6 | 5 | 2 | 242 | 3.4 |
| Nov | 3 | 2 | -1 | 226 | 1.3 |
| Dec | 2 | 1 | -3 | 260 | 0.7 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (32 m) and the rim (91 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 | 109% | 98% | 92% | 102% | 108% | 122% | 78% | 129% | 118% | 61% | 87% | 75% |
| 2021 | 41% | 93% | 76% | 94% | 55% | 159% | 65% | 64% | 130% | 105% | 96% | 80% |
| 2022 | 110% | 87% | 202% | 75% | 148% | 107% | 99% | 116% | 65% | 57% | 123% | 29% |
| 2023 | 86% | 131% | 61% | 124% | 168% | 130% | 19% | 54% | 107% | 84% | 52% | 59% |
| 2024 | 86% | 60% | 89% | 59% | 112% | 102% | 105% | 128% | 74% | 86% | 107% | 96% |
| 2025 | 96% | 149% | 94% | 65% | 100% | 101% | 123% | 114% | 136% | 62% | 39% | 95% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Fjaðrárgljúfur
Iceland
- 100 mDepth
- 2.8 kmRim to rim
- 2.0 kmLength
- 12°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q956845) · 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
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
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