Iceland Canyon World Heritage
Jökulsárgljúfur
163 m of rock, cut by the Jökulsá á Fjöllum.
Andreas Tille · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
163 metres, to scale.
A slice through Jökulsárgljúfur 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.
163m
Depth
published figure: 120 m
5.8km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
20°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
24km
Length
Rim to floor
Afternoons, up top and down below.
In July the afternoon reaches 13 °C. The best months to hike are from July to August. The rim freezes at night from November to April.
- 0°-1°Jan
- 0°-1°Feb
- 0°-1°Mar
- 2°1°Apr
- 5°4°May
- 11°10°Jun
- 13°12°Jul
- 12°11°Aug
- 9°8°Sep
- 4°3°Oct
- 1°0°Nov
- 0°-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.
Canyon in Iceland
Jökulsárgljúfur is a canyon in Iceland, cut by the Jökulsá á Fjöllum river. The relief model measures 163 m from the floor to the lower rim. The published depth is 120 m. It runs for 24 km. Rim to rim it is 5.8 km wide where the cut was taken. It lies within Vatnajökull National Park. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Getting there.
- Parking 2,050 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 0.8 km from the floor
- Akureyri International Airport (AEY)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 76 km in a straight lineCar hire at AEY airport (Akureyri)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From July 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 Jökulsá á Fjöllum runs highest from May to July.
The Jökulsá á Fjöllum carries about 199 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from May to July, fed by melting snow.
- 99 m³/sJan
- 31 m³/sFeb
- 41 m³/sMar
- 196 m³/sApr
- 510 m³/sMay
- 565 m³/sJun
- 425 m³/sJul
- 215 m³/sAug
- 194 m³/sSep
- 245 m³/sOct
- 257 m³/sNov
- 196 m³/sDec
From about 31 m³/s in the lowest month to 565 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 7,118 km².
Follow the Jökulsá á Fjöllum from source to mouth on Riveryas
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
3 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 13 × 13 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 15viewpoints within 5 kmKirkjan and 14 more
- 3marked hiking routes within 4 kmHolmatungur, Hljóðaklettar - Rauðhólar
- 3footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- 1named waterfalls within 4 kmHólmárfossar
- 4caves within 3 km
- 6car parks within 3 km
- 2information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 1campsites within 8 kmÁsbyrgi í Vesturdal
- 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
- bus stops within 2 km
- hotels and guesthouses within 8 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 Jökulsárgljúfur.
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.
Peakyas4 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 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Afternoon · rim | -1 | -1 | -1 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 0 | -1 |
| Night · rim | -6 | -6 | -6 | -4 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 3 | -1 | -4 | -6 |
| Rain (mm) | 105 | 85 | 99 | 83 | 86 | 69 | 93 | 100 | 127 | 131 | 127 | 122 |
| Rainy days | 20 | 17 | 20 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 21 | 20 | 20 |
| Sun hours/day | 0.0 | 0.4 | 2.2 | 4.6 | 6.0 | 7.8 | 5.6 | 4.6 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 72 | 86 | 96 | 81 | 34 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 15 | 30 | 51 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 0 | -1 | -6 | 105 | 0.0 |
| Feb | 0 | -1 | -6 | 85 | 0.4 |
| Mar | 0 | -1 | -6 | 99 | 2.2 |
| Apr | 2 | 1 | -4 | 83 | 4.6 |
| May | 5 | 4 | 0 | 86 | 6.0 |
| Jun | 11 | 10 | 4 | 69 | 7.8 |
| Jul | 13 | 12 | 6 | 93 | 5.6 |
| Aug | 12 | 11 | 6 | 100 | 4.6 |
| Sep | 9 | 8 | 3 | 127 | 3.0 |
| Oct | 4 | 3 | -1 | 131 | 1.0 |
| Nov | 1 | 0 | -4 | 127 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 0 | -1 | -6 | 122 | 0.0 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (74 m) and the rim (250 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 | 122% | 155% | 106% | 84% | 54% | 68% | 149% | 52% | 147% | 111% | 111% | 166% |
| 2021 | 142% | 89% | 119% | 64% | 50% | 121% | 56% | 38% | 124% | 185% | 96% | 43% |
| 2022 | 66% | 127% | 59% | 86% | 141% | 197% | 166% | 184% | 63% | 186% | 105% | 60% |
| 2023 | 116% | 94% | 89% | 55% | 88% | 84% | 129% | 40% | 121% | 117% | 46% | 57% |
| 2024 | 54% | 97% | 132% | 91% | 45% | 234% | 85% | 204% | 91% | 85% | 61% | 48% |
| 2025 | 105% | 71% | 77% | 108% | 69% | 297% | 71% | 73% | 90% | 50% | 46% | 57% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Jökulsárgljúfur
Iceland
- 163 mDepth
- 5.8 kmRim to rim
- 24 kmLength
- 20°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q38888125) · 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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