Litlanesfoss Waterfall

The rock is the draw here as much as the water. Litlanesfoss falls about 30 metres inside a cliff built of high, straight basalt columns, many of them hexagonal and set in unusually regular rows. The water spreads into an apron across that face. The waterfall sits on the Hengifossá river and appears roughly halfway up the trail that leads to Hengifoss, so most people meet it on the way to somewhere else. A smaller waterfall comes first, lower down the path. Behind you the Fljótsdalur valley opens out, and the view back down the slope is worth as much as the fall itself.

• Toilets are at the car park. They sit at the start of the trail, and there are none higher up.
• The path climbs the whole way. It is steep in places, and marked throughout.
• In winter the trail is snow and ice. Wind on the open slope makes the climb harder, and snow covers the columns.
• No wheelchair access. The waterfall is reached only by the hiking path, and there is no step-free route.
• Litlanesfoss is not the end of the trail. The same path carries on uphill to Hengifoss, and many walkers do both.

Drive to the car park at the foot of the Hengifoss trail, in Fljótsdalur in East Iceland. Everything after that is on foot. The path climbs from the car park to Litlanesfoss in 15 to 30 minutes, steep in places but marked the whole way. A smaller waterfall passes on the left of the climb before Litlanesfoss comes into view. Walkers who continue to Hengifoss carry on up the same path.

Better: summer and early autumn, when the path is clear and the columns and the valley are both visible.

Avoid: winter and early spring, when snow and ice cover the trail.

The basalt is the point of the visit, and snow hides it — in late March the climb is iced over and the view flattens out. Wind on the open slope adds to the work in the cold months. In September sheep graze the hillside beside the path.