Hengifoss

From the junction of Highway 1 and Route 92 in the city of Egilsstaðir, follow Highway 1 (the Ring Road) south for 11km, then continue straight along the road as it becomes Route 931 where Highway 1 bears to the left. Continue along Route 931 for another 23km to a T-junction, then bear left where signs point to Snæfells. The parking lot for the trail will be found just over half of a kilometer further, immediately after the bridge crossing the Hengifossá. From the parking area, take the gated trail up a flight of stairs, then continuously climbing for just under 2-1/2km to the base of the falls. The hike is moderately steep, but not terribly difficult. The very base of the falls will be hidden from view without crossing the creek and scrambing further upstream from where the trail ends.Hengifoss is one of Iceland's most significant waterfalls in terms of height. The falls plunge off of a high plateau absolutely saturated with lakes, tarns and marshes, falling some 386 feet into a huge, broad amphitheater carved into the side of a plateau composed of alternating layers of volcanic bedrock interlaced with beds of bright red mud and ash deposits. As the falls have carved out the canyon, the ash deposits have become conspicuously exposed, resulting in nearly a dozen very vivid stripes of red earth running perpendicular to the falls across the darker cliff face. When we surveyed the falls in August of 2014, we were not able to get close enough to properly measure it. However we feel that the commonly reported figure of 386 feet (118 meters) is a fairly accurate measure. Until recently Hengifoss was considered to be the third tallest waterfall in Iceland, but with the "discovery" of Morsárfoss near Skaftafell it was bumped to fourth by most conventions. However, upon our trip to Iceland in August 2014 we found this to be inaccurate, as there are actually a number of waterfalls which are taller in terms of overall height. With the data we currently have Hengifoss places 10th on the list. This does not take into account the literally dozens and dozens (if not hundreds) of small volume waterfalls which can be seen stair-stepping down mountainsides throughout the more rugged parts of the country.