Iceland Jakub Hałun · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
49 metres, to scale.
A slice through Álfagjá where it is deepest and narrowest, measured on the Copernicus relief model every 30 m. Same scale as the landmark standing on the floor.
Standing on the floor, to scale: a person · 1.8 m · a two-storey house · 9.0 m
Depth is measured to the lower rim; the width is from rim to rim. A 30 m relief model smooths the narrowest walls, so a slot canyon reads shallower than it is.
49m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
7.7km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
6°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
0m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
Afternoons, up top and down below.
In July the afternoon reaches 13 °C. The best months to hike are from July to August. The wettest months are in September.
- 3°3°Jan
- 3°3°Feb
- 4°3°Mar
- 6°5°Apr
- 8°8°May
- 12°11°Jun
- 13°13°Jul
- 13°12°Aug
- 10°10°Sep
- 7°7°Oct
- 5°4°Nov
- 4°3°Dec
Afternoon highs, 1991–2020 averages (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the rim and of the floor with the standard lapse rate (6.5 °C per 1 000 m). Shade, wind and rock change this on the day. Not a forecast.
Rift valley on the Reykjanes peninsula, Iceland
Álfagjá is a canyon in Iceland. The relief model measures 49 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 57 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 7.7 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Grindavíknearest town · 12 km in a straight line
- Parking 290 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 1.3 km from the floor
- Keflavik International Airport (KEF)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 13 km in a straight lineCar hire at KEF airport (Reykjavík)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From July to Augustbest months to hike (estimate)
Plan the visit
Guided hikes, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From the sky.
The canyon from above, with the relief shaded, the line of the cut, the river and what people have mapped around it.
N
4 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 17 × 17 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 1viewpoints within 5 km
- 1marked hiking routes within 4 km
- 1climbing crags within 3 kmHörzl
- 1footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmBrú milli Heimsálfa
- 4car parks within 3 km
- 5information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- swimming spots within 3 km
- named waterfalls within 4 km
- caves within 3 km
- bus stops within 2 km
- campsites within 8 km
- hotels and guesthouses within 8 km
- restaurants and cafés within 4 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the floor of the canyon. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Grindavík12 km in a straight line
- Reykjanesbær16 km in a straight line
- Keflavík16 km in a straight line
- Sandgerði19 km in a straight line
- Vogar19 km in a straight line
- Garður23 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Álfagjá.
The river that carved it, the waterfalls inside it, the mountains on the rim, the lakes, beaches and island nearby — from our six sister atlases, each with its own figures.
Peakyas17 mountains within 15 km
Coastya1 beaches within 15 kmFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Month by month
The weather, at the floor and at the rim.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon · floor | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 4 |
| Afternoon · rim | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 3 |
| Night · rim | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Rain (mm) | 154 | 136 | 138 | 106 | 83 | 72 | 85 | 109 | 161 | 131 | 137 | 154 |
| Rainy days | 22 | 19 | 20 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 20 | 18 | 20 | 21 |
| Sun hours/day | 0.0 | 0.9 | 2.9 | 5.4 | 7.8 | 8.1 | 7.0 | 5.7 | 3.6 | 1.7 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 13 | 14 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 12 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 3 | 3 | 0 | 154 | 0.0 |
| Feb | 3 | 3 | 0 | 136 | 0.9 |
| Mar | 4 | 3 | 0 | 138 | 2.9 |
| Apr | 6 | 5 | 2 | 106 | 5.4 |
| May | 8 | 8 | 4 | 83 | 7.8 |
| Jun | 12 | 11 | 8 | 72 | 8.1 |
| Jul | 13 | 13 | 9 | 85 | 7.0 |
| Aug | 13 | 12 | 9 | 109 | 5.7 |
| Sep | 10 | 10 | 7 | 161 | 3.6 |
| Oct | 7 | 7 | 4 | 131 | 1.7 |
| Nov | 5 | 4 | 2 | 137 | 0.1 |
| Dec | 4 | 3 | 0 | 154 | 0.0 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (0 m) and the rim (56 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
Photographs
Seen from the trail.
Recent years
Wet years, dry years.
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 131% | 97% | 96% | 124% | 119% | 148% | 81% | 138% | 106% | 68% | 108% | 95% |
| 2021 | 66% | 58% | 99% | 87% | 65% | 125% | 103% | 90% | 131% | 109% | 123% | 77% |
| 2022 | 130% | 113% | 156% | 84% | 93% | 110% | 123% | 121% | 61% | 74% | 64% | 35% |
| 2023 | 75% | 163% | 36% | 112% | 215% | 171% | 16% | 86% | 85% | 110% | 54% | 82% |
| 2024 | 94% | 73% | 64% | 92% | 149% | 102% | 149% | 111% | 52% | 82% | 92% | 123% |
| 2025 | 94% | 124% | 116% | 66% | 87% | 88% | 129% | 112% | 77% | 124% | 39% | 84% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Álfagjá
Iceland
- 49 mDepth
- 7.7 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 6°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q48906389) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Viewpoints, trails, bridges and the river line | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Rivers, waterfalls, mountains, lakes, beaches and islands nearby | Coastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
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