Iceland diego_cue · CC BY-SA 3.0
The cut
613 metres, to scale.
A slice through Kolugljúfur 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 · Empire State · 443 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.
613m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
19.7km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
19°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
45m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
4 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 14 °C on the floor, against 10 °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
- 4°0°Apr
- 8°4°May
- 12°8°Jun
- 14°10°Jul
- 13°9°Aug
- 10°5°Sep
- 5°1°Oct
- 2°-2°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.
Kolugljúfur is a canyon in Iceland, cut by the Víðidalsá river. The relief model measures 613 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 20 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 2.9 km from the floor
- Akureyri International Airport (AEY)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 121 km in a straight lineCar hire at AEY airport (Akureyri)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 Víðidalsá runs highest from December to May.
The Víðidalsá carries about 8.4 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from December to May, fed by melting snow.
- 10 m³/sJan
- 11 m³/sFeb
- 11 m³/sMar
- 14 m³/sApr
- 11 m³/sMay
- 7.4 m³/sJun
- 5.6 m³/sJul
- 6.2 m³/sAug
- 9.6 m³/sSep
- 9.9 m³/sOct
- 9.6 m³/sNov
- 12 m³/sDec
From about 5.6 m³/s in the lowest month to 14 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 411 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
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.
- 5viewpoints within 5 km
- 3named waterfalls within 4 kmKolufossar, Kerafossar, Bergárfoss
- 3car parks within 3 km
- 1information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 3hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmDæli Guesthouse, Stóra-Ásgeirsá Farm Stay, North West Hotel
- 1restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- marked hiking routes within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- footbridges and suspension bridges 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
- campsites within 8 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 Kolugljúfur.
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.
Cascadyas1 waterfalls nearbyComing soon
Peakyas9 mountains within 15 km
Lakeyas1 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 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| Afternoon · rim | -4 | -4 | -3 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 1 | -2 | -4 |
| Night · rim | -8 | -8 | -8 | -5 | -2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | -3 | -6 | -8 |
| Rain (mm) | 83 | 75 | 74 | 71 | 60 | 51 | 72 | 78 | 97 | 98 | 83 | 87 |
| Rainy days | 20 | 18 | 19 | 16 | 16 | 13 | 15 | 17 | 19 | 20 | 19 | 19 |
| Sun hours/day | 0.0 | 0.8 | 3.4 | 5.3 | 7.3 | 8.8 | 6.3 | 5.2 | 3.0 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 29 | 29 | 28 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 18 | 20 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 0 | -4 | -8 | 83 | 0.0 |
| Feb | 0 | -4 | -8 | 75 | 0.8 |
| Mar | 1 | -3 | -8 | 74 | 3.4 |
| Apr | 4 | 0 | -5 | 71 | 5.3 |
| May | 8 | 4 | -2 | 60 | 7.3 |
| Jun | 12 | 8 | 2 | 51 | 8.8 |
| Jul | 14 | 10 | 4 | 72 | 6.3 |
| Aug | 13 | 9 | 3 | 78 | 5.2 |
| Sep | 10 | 5 | 1 | 97 | 3.0 |
| Oct | 5 | 1 | -3 | 98 | 1.3 |
| Nov | 2 | -2 | -6 | 83 | 0.2 |
| Dec | 0 | -4 | -8 | 87 | 0.1 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (45 m) and the rim (663 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 | 159% | 117% | 95% | 88% | 80% | 133% | 133% | 146% | 152% | 85% | 110% | 99% |
| 2021 | 96% | 72% | 137% | 91% | 31% | 147% | 71% | 72% | 190% | 136% | 126% | 54% |
| 2022 | 124% | 83% | 136% | 81% | 154% | 161% | 114% | 138% | 70% | 97% | 55% | 61% |
| 2023 | 79% | 121% | 66% | 63% | 210% | 142% | 52% | 65% | 90% | 99% | 51% | 60% |
| 2024 | 71% | 92% | 116% | 52% | 121% | 164% | 107% | 161% | 85% | 116% | 76% | 102% |
| 2025 | 89% | 101% | 131% | 67% | 89% | 146% | 109% | 80% | 129% | 65% | 48% | 60% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Kolugljúfur
Iceland
- 613 mDepth
- 20 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 19°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q2540531) · 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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