Dettifoss

About Dettifoss

Dettifoss is a waterfall on the Jökulsá á Fjöllum river in Vatnajökull National Park, North Iceland, where the gray, silt-heavy river drops 44 to 45 meters over a ledge about 100 meters wide into the Jökulsárgljúfur canyon. It is often called the most powerful waterfall in Europe, and standing at the edge you feel it in your chest before the spray reaches you.

The Dettifoss waterfall is all force and very little grace. Its water comes from Vatnajökull, which keeps the color a muddy gray-brown, and the falls are slowly cutting their way upstream by about half a meter a year. On a still day the cloud of spray above the canyon shows up long before you reach the parking lot.

You can see Dettifoss from either bank, and each side has its own road. The west side is the easy choice, reached on paved Road 862 from Route 1 near Mývatn, about 45 minutes from Reykjahlíð and roughly 2 hours from Akureyri. The east side, on gravel Road 864, gives a closer, more head-on view, but the road is slow and closes once snow arrives in the fall, reopening only when it dries out in spring.

From the west side parking lot, the viewpoint is about 1 km away over rocky ground, and the round trip takes 30 minutes to an hour. A 2.5 km loop adds Selfoss, a wide 10-meter fall just upstream, and takes about an hour. Hafragilsfoss, 27 meters high, lies downstream and is best seen from the east side.

Summer and early fall are the easiest times to visit, with both roads usually open and light late into the evening. Road 862 gets only limited winter service, so between late fall and spring check the official road-conditions map and weather warnings before heading out, and expect ice on the paths when you arrive.

The site has toilets and a parking lot, but overnight stays are not allowed. Stay on the marked trails and back from the edge, where the rock is wet from the spray. Most travelers pair Dettifoss with Ásbyrgi and the rest of Jökulsárgljúfur to the north, or with Mývatn to the south, as part of the Diamond Circle.