Sigoldugljufur Canyon

The waterfalls at Sigoldugljufur do not fall from a river above. Water comes straight out of the canyon wall and drops in a long row of separate threads, over rock covered in moss. The river underneath them is turquoise. Those two colours are the reason the canyon is photographed, and they separate best under a clear sky.

The approach hides all of it. The walk in crosses an old lava field of black rock and low moss, flat enough that the canyon reads as an ordinary river in ordinary ground until you are almost at the rim. From the viewpoint the falls line up along one side, close enough to pick out individually. The canyon rim can be followed further for a closer look at them.

• Vehicle: the last stretch is F208, a mountain F-road. A car rated for F-roads is needed; the drive is the obstacle here, not the walk.
• Road closures: F208 is not open at all times. When it has been shut, the canyon has still been reached on foot.
• No facilities: there are no toilets, no drinking water and no information board at the canyon or anywhere near it.
• Carrying on: continuing along F208 towards the national park means many kilometres of gravel 4x4 driving. Treat that as a separate day.

There is no public transport into this part of the highlands, so everyone arrives by car, and the final stretch is the F208 mountain road. Parking is not at the canyon itself. The nearer lot sits about 860 m away, a second one about 1.5 km out on gravel. From either, the rest is on foot across an old lava field of uneven black rock to the viewpoint on the rim. Nothing gets you closer than the car parks. When F208 has been closed to traffic, people have walked in from further back.

Better: a clear day, and a weekday rather than a weekend.

Avoid: setting out without first checking whether F208 is open.

The colours are the point of the trip, and the moss and the turquoise water separate best in direct light. On a cloudy weekday the viewpoint can be quiet enough for a slow walk along the rim.