Waterfall Circle

Two big waterfalls anchor the loop, and Faxi is the one walkers single out — the more impressive of the pair, if the less photogenic, and reached by the steepest climb on the route. The 8 km circuit strings several more falls together with open views. There is no scrambling and no exposure anywhere on it.

The ground between the two waterfalls is the wettest part of the walk, and boardwalks take the path across the boggiest sections at the start and the end. The loop begins and finishes at Laugarfell, where there is food and a hot tub.

• Footwear: waterproof boots. The trail is boggy in spots, and the wettest ground lies between the two waterfalls.
• Waymarking: the loop follows sticks with red tops, under a metre high and easy to lose against the ground.
• Boardwalks: the path is boarded at the beginning and the end of the circuit, depending which way round you go.
• Short version: heading straight for Faxi cuts the walk and skips the soggiest ground, but it is the steepest line.
• At the trailhead: the Laugarfell lodge serves food and has hot tubs; using them is charged.

There is a car park at the trailhead. The road is paved as far as the turn-off to it, and small non-4WD cars manage the last stretch. From the car park, head for one of the sets of steps over the fence and look for the sticks with red tops — those mark the route. The loop starts and finishes in the same place, so you come back to the car.

Better: dry weather, and a day with clear visibility across the ground.

Avoid: the days after heavy rain.

Water is the variable here. The stretch between the two waterfalls turns boggy, and the route is marked by sticks with red tops under a metre high. In flat light they are hard to pick out, and that is exactly where walkers drift off the line — on the wettest ground, looking for a dry way round.