Aldeyjarfoss – One of Iceland’s Most Beautiful Waterfalls

Aldeyjarfoss waterfall is one of Iceland’s most beautiful waterfalls. It is less frequently visited because it lies along the F26 mountain road. What it looks like, what constitutes its beauty and how to see it without an off-road car – you will read below.

The unique beauty of Aldeyjarfoss waterfall

Aldeyjarfoss is located in the northern highlands, between the city of Akureyri and Lake Mývatn, but about 40 km south of Highway 1, which is already inside the so-called interior. It rises on the Skjálfandafljót river and flows into its blue lagoon at its feet.

The waterfall reaches 20 meters in height, which is quite low for Iceland. On the other hand, its distinctive feature is the spreading rows of hexagonal basalt columns on either side of the cascade. At one point they even form a unique basalt cave, looking like a work of art. They are so perfectly formed and symmetrical that they were not formed naturally, but were specially carved here. The reason for the unique symmetry, however, is the specific way in which the lava moves, ensuring even cooling across its surface.

Such basalt columns are relatively common in Iceland (including at Reynisfjara, at Svartifoss, Litlanesfoss or Borgarvirki), although they are very rarely found in other parts of the world. A motif modeled on them even adorns Reykjavik’s main church – Hallgrimskirkja.

The columns at Aldeyjarfoss, however, are more varied in color than their black and gray counterparts elsewhere on the island. Colored by sulfur and iron, the yellow and red columns of Aldeyjarfoss are unique even in Iceland.

How to get to Aldeyjarfoss

Aldeyjarfoss waterfall lies at the northern end of the F26 mountain road. Literally about 3 km farther north, the road crosses the Skjálfandafljót River and becomes the usual, though still dirt, road 842 leading on to Godafoss waterfall and the junction with Road 1 at the Fossholl gas station. This intersection is about 40 km north of the waterfall.

A car with a two-wheel drive will have no problem getting to the parking lot at the waterfall. Unfortunately, the road to this parking lot (on the north side) leads through a rather steep driveway. During rainfall, which is not hard to come by in Iceland, this driveway – due to its ground – can get very slippery. For a single-axle car, this is too risky a crossing and I really don’t recommend it.

If you’re driving the F26 from south to north, you’ll find Aldeyjarfoss at the end of the drive, about 90 km north of Nyidalur, 200 km north of the gas station at Highland Center Hrauneyjar and 40 km before the aforementioned station in Fossholl.

Alternative “shortcut” to Aldeyjarfoss from the Myvatn area

Although in a straight line from the waterfall to Lake Myvatn is only about 25 km, by car you have to drive as far as ca. 80 km (via Fossholl).
There is also a ‘shortcut’ connecting road 843 with road 1 near Myvatn. This road is numbered 8819 (yes, four digits) and bears the proud name Mývatnsheiðarvegur.

Unfortunately, first of all, this road is not much shorter (it is about 60 km long), secondly, due to the condition of the road surface it will take even longer to drive it than the variant through Fossholl (although it is certainly more scenic), thirdly, the route bypasses the very nice Godafoss waterfall in Fossholl, and finally, fourthly – most of all, due to the potentially bad condition of the road surface, it really is not a route for a car without high suspension and two-wheel drive.
Therefore, consider using this alternative route only if the weather is nice and dry, you are very keen on not taking the 842 road to Fossholl twice, and you want to do the Myvatn-Godafoss-Aldeyjarfoss-Myvatn ‘circle’ or you do not plan to take the F26 road further south.

Either way, if you’re taking this route, get yourself a good map and preferably ask locals about the current status of this very rarely used road. In my experience, Google Maps sometimes shows this road and sometimes it doesn’t… On maps.me it is available without any trouble.

Photos of the Aldeyjarfoss waterfall