Studlagil Canyon

The columns stand in ranks along the canyon walls, hexagonal in section and rising several metres from the riverbed. The water between them runs turquoise, coloured by fine glacial silt.

Colour is the catch. You need sun for it, and a grey day flattens the river to something much duller than the photographs.

There are two banks and they are not equivalent. The west bank carries a viewing platform and looks down on the canyon from above. The east bank puts you level with the columns and costs a 5 km walk to reach. The walking itself is easy to moderate.

• Parking is charged. Payment goes through the Parka app or locally on site.
• The two banks differ. The viewing platform is on the west bank; the east bank puts you beside the columns after a 5 km walk.
• Toilets and a food truck stand at the main access. The toilets are closed in winter.
• Winter means ice. The roads and the paths freeze, and spikes are worth carrying.
• Colours depend on sun. The turquoise is strongest in summer, and an overcast day flattens it.

Road 923 leaves Route 1 and runs into Jökuldalur to the canyon. The rest of the way is on foot. The west bank carries a viewing platform above the canyon. The east bank brings you level with the basalt columns and takes a 5 km walk to reach. In winter the approach starts at the bridge parking, and the stretch on to the summer car park is walked.

Better: June to October, on a sunny day.

Avoid: midwinter, unless you are equipped for ice.

The river runs its clearest turquoise in summer, when it is fed by clearer water from the reservoirs upstream, and the colour only shows properly in direct sun. Winter has its own case, with snow on the columns and fewer people on the paths, but the roads and trails ice over, the toilets are shut and the summer car park cannot be driven to.