Öxarárfoss

About Öxarárfoss

Öxarárfoss is a waterfall in Þingvellir National Park where the Öxará river drops over the western wall of the Almannagjá rift, the edge of the North American plate. From there the river runs on past the old assembly grounds toward Lake Þingvallavatn, and the twist is that it may have been moved there on purpose.

Tradition says early settlers diverted the Öxará into Almannagjá to bring water to the Althing, the parliament that first met here in 930. Nobody can prove it, but the course of the river through the gorge does look engineered. Just downstream, the deep pool of Drekkingarhylur is where women convicted of crimes were drowned in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The Öxarárfoss waterfall is about 45 minutes' drive northeast of Reykjavík on Route 36. The quickest approach is from parking lot P2 at Efri-Vellir, below and east of the fall, a few minutes away on a gravel path. From the visitor center at Hakið (P1), the Öxarárfoss trail runs down through Almannagjá past Lögberg, which takes 20 to 30 minutes each way and is the better walk.

Entry to the park is free, but parking is not. The national park charges 1,000 ISK per day for a car with up to five seats and 1,200 ISK for six to nine seats, and one payment covers P1, P2 and P5 for that day. You can pay at the machines, including one at P2, or online before you arrive.

The park is open all year. In winter the fall often freezes into columns of ice and the paths get slick, so bring traction spikes. Game of Thrones filmed in this part of the park, which helps explain the midday crowds, while early mornings and summer evenings are much quieter. Plan on 30 to 45 minutes for the fall alone, or two hours if you combine it with the gorge walk.