Dettifoss is Iceland’s most powerful and the second most powerful in Europe. It lies in Vatnajökull National Park, in the northern part of the island.
Dettifoss is neither the tallest nor the widest waterfall in Iceland. It reaches a width of about 100 meters and falls from a height of (only) 45 meters into the Jökulsárgljúfur canyon. However, it is fed by the mighty glacial river Jökulsá á Fjöllum, flowing from Europe’s largest glacier, Vatnajökull. As a result, it is through this waterfall that the most water flows on the entire island.
At peak times, when glacier melt is particularly intense, up to 600 m3 of water per second is said to flow through Dettifoss! This gives it second place in all of Europe in this regard, only behind Switzerland’s Rheinfall.
The area around the waterfall is not only noisy, but also very humid. Dense fog is a perfectly normal phenomenon. With unfavorable winds, you can get quite wet here.
Video: Mighty Dettifoss vs tourists.
About 1 km south of Dettifoss is a second interesting waterfall – Selfoss On the other hand, approx. 2 km to the north lies the slightly less interesting Hafragilsfoss.
Dettifoss also marks the southern boundary of the exclave of Vatnajokull National Park. The area surrounding the Jökulsárgljúfur canyon, that is, the area between Dettifoss and Asbyrgi to the north, belongs to PN Vatnajokull, although it is in no way connected to the main part of the park. Rather, it constitutes a kind of northernmost island. For maps of trekking trails in the area, see the article on Asbyrgi – scenic horseshoe-shaped canyon
Hafragilsfoss lies about 2 kilometers north of Dettifoss. It is about 30 meters high and 90 meters wide and is surrounded by beautiful cliffs.
Hafragilsfoss thus lies on the same river and in the same canyon as Dettifoss and the slightly smaller Selfoss. Although Hafragilsfoss is smaller than them, and can only be viewed from a considerable distance, it is worth a visit for, among other things, the spectacular views of the canyon itself and the beautiful location of the waterfall inside the canyon.
The waterfall can be viewed from both the east and west sides. There are also public parking lots on both sides. The descent to the waterfall itself, on the other hand, is quite difficult, so we rather admire it from a distance.
Dettifoss can be viewed from two sides – east and west.
In my opinion, it is definitely better seen from the west side, so drive to it by road 862. From this side we also have a wider and better-groomed path and easier access to the neighboring waterfall – Selfoss.
Road 862 also leads past two other interesting places – Hljodaklettar and Raudholar, about 15 km further north. At the same time, especially in summer, you will find many more tourists on this side of the waterfall, although it is very rare to talk about crowding here.
There is also a parking lot on the eastern bank of the waterfall, on Road 864, and a relatively short path leads to the edge of the waterfall. Be careful, however, as it is often very slippery. This side of the waterfall is also less popular with tourists.
