At Lake Lagarfljot, near Egilsstadir, are two of the prettiest waterfalls in Iceland. The beauty of each, however, is of a different nature.
Although Hengifoss (literally, hanging waterfall) is not the tallest waterfall in Iceland, it is considered by many to be the most beautiful (and after all, the competition is enormous!). In addition to its absolutely impressive height, a beautiful and distinctive feature of this waterfall is its backdrop. It is a “sandwich” of red and black rock layers, which look impressive and impress even experienced travelers. Such layers are formed during volcanic eruptions, in which the volcano ejects both lava and ash (these are known as eruptions of eruption-explosion; see How Iceland’s volcanoes work). The lava and ash are often different in composition and color, with the lava covering the area first and the ash falling on top of it later, thus forming distinct, separate rock layers.
Hengifoss falls into the Hengifossárgljúfur Gorge, at about 450 meters above sea level, and reaches a height of 128 meters. This means that it is second only to the Glymur (198 m) and Morsárfoss (240 m), and is Iceland’s third-highest waterfall. Yet it is often pointed to as Iceland’s second highest waterfall. How is this possible?
The thing is that Morsarfoss was only discovered in 2007, because it is located inside the Morsárjökull glacier, north of Skaftafell Arguably, it has existed for a very long time, but only the current warming climate has retreated the glacier enough to expose the rock from which the waterfall flows. It is still difficult to reach, and many older sources do not include Morsarfoss for natural reasons.
Walking along the path to Hengifoss on the way you will encounter its smaller neighbor – this is Litlanesfoss – also one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Iceland. Litlanesfoss is a beautiful, two-tiered, 30-meter waterfall, on the same river as its taller brother – Hengifoss
The unique beauty of Litlanesfoss waterfall is created by the beautiful hexagonal basalt columns surrounding it. They are quite common in Iceland (they can be found at Reynisfjara, Svartifoss, Aldeyjarfoss, the nearby Studlagil or Borgarvirki) and, as a symbol of Iceland, became, for example, the inspiration for the architecture of the Hallgrimskirkja church in Reykjavik. However, such rock formations are rather rare in the world, and in Iceland itself, too, access to many such beautiful places is quite difficult.
The columns at the Litlanesfoss waterfall are among the tallest in the country: the tallest ones are even about twenty meters high. Therefore, although many tourists treat it only as a nice stop on the way to Hengifoss, Litlanesfoss is certainly a beautiful attraction in itself. Hiking the trail to the waterfall is also relatively easy and requires no special physical condition.
The surroundings of the waterfalls are also very interesting. There are rock formations of various sizes, lignite formed from naturally compressed peat and islands of local vegetation. Interestingly, opposite the waterfall, on the other side of the lake, is the largest (now) forest in Iceland – Hallormsstaðaskógur. Lake Lagarfljot itself also looks beautiful and is one of the largest lakes in Iceland.
Read more about the many other attractions in the area in the article on Egilsstadir – the capital of eastern Iceland
