Dettifoss

Dettifoss carries the meltwater of Vatnajokull's northern outlet glacier over a 44 m ledge in the Jokulsargljufur canyon. Its average flow of around 193 cubic metres per second makes it the most powerful waterfall in Europe by volume, and the roar is audible a kilometre away. The water is opaque, grey-brown with glacial sediment, which makes it look like a wall of moving concrete rather than a river. It became famous outside Iceland after appearing in the opening sequence of Ridley Scott's Prometheus in 2012. The river is the Jokulsa a Fjollum, at around 206 km Iceland's second longest, and the whole canyon has been part of Vatnajokull National Park since 2008. Treat it as a half-day destination in its own right rather than a photo stop wedged into a Ring Road transfer, because the driving alone eats two hours.

There are two viewpoints, one on each side of the canyon, and they are quite different visits. The west bank on paved Route 862 is easy: a 700 m walk from the car park brings you to a safe railed platform above the falls. The east bank on gravel Route 864 is rougher, muddier and much closer to the water; this is the Prometheus view and the one where you get soaked in spray. From either bank you can walk 1 km upstream to Selfoss, a broad, low waterfall shaped like a horseshoe. The west path is firm gravel for most of its length and takes 10-12 minutes each way, with rock steps near the end; the east path is 15 minutes over slabs, puddles and post-marked rock. If you have one bank in you and a two-wheel-drive car, take the west.

In summer come early or late; the coach tours arrive 11-2. In winter the west bank is accessible with a 4x4 or careful driving; the east bank is closed. There are toilets and picnic tables at both car parks but no cafe, so bring food from Myvatn. Combine with Asbyrgi and Hljodaklettar for a full day in Jokulsargljufur, or with Krafla caldera 45 km south. The nearest hot food is at Vogafjos cowshed cafe in Myvatn. Check road.is or ring 1777 before you set off in any month outside July and August, because the northern stretch of Route 862 beyond the falls towards Asbyrgi is gravel and is not maintained through winter. Fill water bottles in Reykjahlid; there is nothing to buy at either car park.

Getting there is the whole logistical problem, because nothing scheduled goes anywhere near the falls. From Reykjahlid at Myvatn, drive east on Route 1 for about 25 km to the signed junction with Route 862, then 25 km north on tarmac to the west car park; allow 50-60 minutes each way. For the east bank you stay on Route 1 further east to the Route 864 turn-off, then face roughly 30 km of corrugated gravel with blind crests, so allow 45 minutes even though the legal limit on gravel is 80 km/h. The long-distance bus between Akureyri and Egilsstaerir stops in Reykjahlid but no service turns north, and hitchhiking on 862 can mean an hour between cars. Last fuel is the station in Reykjahlid or the one at Asbyrgi on Route 85.

Nothing at Dettifoss costs money: no entry fee, no parking charge, no toll on either road, and the toilet blocks at both car parks are free. Your real budget is fuel and wheels. Petrol runs around ISK 300 a litre, so the 120 km round trip from Reykjahlid in a small car is roughly ISK 3,000. A rental 4x4 starts from about ISK 15,000 a day in high summer, and it is worth checking whether your policy covers gravel and windscreen damage, since Route 864 is exactly where chips happen. If you are not driving, a Diamond Circle coach day tour from Akureyri typically starts around ISK 25,000 a seat and small-group super jeep trips out of Myvatn run higher. Skip the tour if you already have a car; the road needs no guide.

Timing decides how good the visit is. Coaches cluster in the middle of the day, so aim to be walking the path before 09:30 or after 18:00, and in June and July the midnight sun lets you stand on the west platform at 23:00 with nobody else there. Flow peaks with the melt in late May and June, when the canyon runs several times its average volume and the spray reaches further than you expect; August is calmer but still enormous, and September gives you empty paths with both roads still open. From mid-October the east road shuts, the west path ices over and December offers barely four hours of usable light, sunrise near 11:20 and sunset around 14:45. Early June evenings and mid-September mornings are the two windows worth planning around.

It suits anyone who can manage 1.5 km of uneven ground and does not mind wind. It does not suit wheelchairs or shaky knees: you cannot see the falls from either car park, and the west route ends in rock steps and a slope, so anyone with limited mobility is better served by Godafoss on Route 1 west of Myvatn, where the falls are visible a couple of minutes from the parking. Small children are fine on the west path if you hold hands, because long stretches of canyon rim are unfenced and only the platform is railed. Teenagers get more out of the east bank and the drenching. A rainy day actually flatters the falls, but turns the east path to mud, so switch banks rather than cancel. With a one-hour gap, do not attempt it.

Fold the rest of Jokulsargljufur into the same day. Selfoss is 20 minutes upstream from either car park and almost always quieter; Hafragilsfoss sits 2 km downstream and has its own signed viewpoint off Route 864 that you can drive to. Asbyrgi, the horseshoe canyon 35 km north, has a 10-minute walk to the Botnstjorn pond under 100 m cliffs, and the echo rocks of Hljodaklettar in Vesturdalur make a 1-2 hour loop on the way. Serious walkers can do the 32 km Dettifoss-to-Asbyrgi trail over two days with a night at the park campsite. Heading south instead, Krafla and the Viti crater are 45 km away and the Hverir mudpots at Namaskarer sit right on Route 1 as you return to Myvatn.

Two honest caveats. First, the superlative is arithmetic: the power figure combines discharge with the height of the drop, and a couple of European falls push more water over lower ledges, so do not come expecting the widest curtain in Europe, come for the noise and the sediment-grey violence of it. Second, the east bank is undersold as merely rough. It is 30 km of washboard gravel plus a mud path, trainers are the wrong footwear after rain, and spray will fog any lens within a minute. There is no cafe, no shop, patchy phone signal and the toilet block can be locked in deep winter. People have died going over the rim for a photograph; the railed platform is there for a reason. Pack food, waterproofs and patience with the road, and it delivers.

Hours & entry

Always free; free parking on both banks

Open year-round 24/7 · Route 862 (west) paved and open all year · Route 864 (east) gravel, closed mid-Oct to late May

What to see

• West bank viewpoint — End of Route 862, 700 m walk from car park
• East bank front-of-falls platform — End of Route 864, closer to the spray
• Selfoss upstream — 1 km walk south from either bank

Tips from the ground

• The west bank is faster and safer; the east bank has the iconic photo
• Bring waterproofs — the east bank spray drifts 100 m and your camera will get wet
• Fill up at Myvatn or Asbyrgi; there is no fuel within 40 km of Dettifoss