Gjárfoss

Take Highway 1 east from the city of Selfoss and turn north on to Route 30 (just over 3km west of the bridge over the Þjorsá). Follow Route 30 north for 18.4km then turn right onto Route 32 and continue for another 32km then turn left onto Route 327 immediately after crossing the bridge over the Fossá. Route 329 is rough and unpaved, but permitted for non-4wd vehicles - follow it for 5.7km to the parking area for the Stöng farm. Non-4wd vehicles will have to park here. A trail leads upstream along the stream for just over a kilometer to a promontory overlooking the waterfalls, and intersects the road again shortly after. Those with a 4wd vehicle can continue driving up the (now designated F327) road for another 1.4km, taking the first left, to another parking area which provides easier access to the stairs which lead down to the base of the waterfalls. Clear views of Gjárfoss require fording the stream(s).The Gjáin valley is an area which features some very interesting attractions, but is somewhat lacking in the waterfall department. The stream Rauðá flows through a rift zone and drops over several small waterfalls, met with several small spring-fed streams which bubble out of the ground and produce waterfalls of their own. As the stream makes its plunge into the valley, it splits around a small rock outcrop, forming two streams which plunge into one another, merging mid fall, then spray onto a lower ledge and veil down to the pool at the base of the falls. A short distance downstream the Rauðá merges with two unnamed spring-fed streams at a lower cascading fall which we have grouped together as part of the unofficially named neighboring Gjáinfoss. The area around these waterfalls is not only geologically unique, but also historically significant. About 15-minutes downstream from the falls is the restored Stöng farm, which was destroyed in an eruption from the nearby Hekla volcano in the year 1100. Near the waterfalls in the Gjáin area are several other relics of the early settlement, including several stone walls set inside caves and overhangs in the rock formations near several of the springs. Note that the road used to access the Gjáin area is classified as an F-Road, which means that non high-clearance 4wd rental cars are not allowed on the road, so if you aren't driving an appropriate vehicle you will need to walk in.For the purpose of listing in this database, we are using the name Gjáinfoss to refer to the prominent waterfall on the unnamed stream on the right side of the Gjáin valley, as well as the small cascading waterfall found at the confluence of the three major streams in the area. The falls on the left side (this entry) are formally known as Gjárfoss by itself.