Skógafoss

About Skógafoss

Skógafoss is a waterfall on the Skógá river at Skógar, just off Route 1 on Iceland's South Coast, about 2 hours' drive from Reykjavík. The river drops about 60 meters over the old sea cliffs in a sheet roughly 25 meters wide, and the flat gravel plain in front lets you walk right up into the spray.

Few waterfalls in Iceland let you get this close this easily. On a sunny afternoon you will get soaked at the base and very likely see a rainbow for your trouble. Skógafoss lies roughly 25 minutes east of Seljalandsfoss and about half an hour west of Vík, so most travelers see the two waterfalls together, and almost every South Coast day tour stops here.

For the view from above, a steel staircase of more than 500 steps climbs the slope on the right side of the falls. At the top, a platform looks straight down into the plunge and out across the coastal plain to the sea. The Skógafoss stairs are steep but short, and most people reach the top in 10 to 15 minutes.

Beyond the platform, a path follows the Skógá upstream past a long chain of smaller waterfalls. This is the start of the Fimmvörðuháls trail toward Þórsmörk, but you can walk 30 minutes or an hour and turn back. Local legend says the settler Þrasi hid a chest of gold behind the falls, and nobody has found it yet.

Skógafoss is open all year and free to see. Parking is paid through the Parka app: 1,000 ISK for a standard car in 2026, valid for up to 5 hours, with no overnight stays in the lot. Allow about an hour for the base and the stairs, more if you walk the trail.

Come early in the morning or in the evening to miss the tour buses. In winter, bring microspikes, since the stairs and the ground by the falls ice over.