Iceland Christian Bickel · CC BY-SA 2.0 de
The cut
656 metres, to scale.
A slice through Hvítárgljúfur 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: Great Pyramid · 139 m · Empire State · 443 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.
656m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
11.0km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
31°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
95m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
5 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 11 °C on the floor, against 7 °C on the rim. The rim freezes at night from October to April. The wettest months are from December to January.
- 2°-3°Jan
- 2°-3°Feb
- 3°-2°Mar
- 5°0°Apr
- 7°2°May
- 10°5°Jun
- 11°7°Jul
- 11°6°Aug
- 9°4°Sep
- 6°1°Oct
- 3°-2°Nov
- 2°-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.
Hvítárgljúfur is a gorge in Iceland, cut by the Hvítá river. The relief model measures 656 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 11 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Hornafjörður Airport (HFN)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 113 km in a straight lineCar hire at HFN airport (Höfn)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
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.
The river
The Hvítá runs highest from July to October.
The Hvítá carries about 7.7 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from July to October, fed by melting snow.
- 8.0 m³/sJan
- 8.2 m³/sFeb
- 6.2 m³/sMar
- 3.9 m³/sApr
- 2.9 m³/sMay
- 6.7 m³/sJun
- 14 m³/sJul
- 17 m³/sAug
- 17 m³/sSep
- 13 m³/sOct
- 5.9 m³/sNov
- 6.8 m³/sDec
From about 2.9 m³/s in the lowest month to 17 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 109 km².
Estimate: long-term flow from the HydroATLAS model (WaterGAP, 1971–2000) shaped by the monthly rain, snow and temperature of the area (NASA POWER). Dams change it. Not a forecast.
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
6 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 24 × 24 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 2named waterfalls within 4 kmNúpsárfoss, Hvítárfoss
- viewpoints within 5 km
- marked hiking routes within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- swimming spots within 3 km
- caves within 3 km
- car parks within 3 km
- information boards and visitor centres within 4 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).
In our other atlases
What else is around Hvítárgljúfur.
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.
Cascadyas1 waterfalls nearbyComing soon
Peakyas6 mountains within 15 km
Lakeyas1 lakes within 15 kmComing soonFigures 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 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 2 |
| Afternoon · rim | -3 | -3 | -2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 1 | -2 | -3 |
| Night · rim | -7 | -7 | -6 | -4 | -2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | -2 | -5 | -7 |
| Rain (mm) | 280 | 259 | 229 | 184 | 117 | 102 | 126 | 154 | 241 | 241 | 225 | 273 |
| Rainy days | 22 | 20 | 22 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 18 | 19 | 21 | 20 | 20 | 22 |
| Sun hours/day | 1.1 | 3.6 | 7.8 | 12.0 | 14.4 | 13.8 | 11.1 | 9.3 | 6.2 | 4.3 | 1.9 | 0.7 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 116 | 142 | 163 | 172 | 154 | 112 | 55 | 13 | 8 | 21 | 51 | 83 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 2 | -3 | -7 | 280 | 1.1 |
| Feb | 2 | -3 | -7 | 259 | 3.6 |
| Mar | 3 | -2 | -6 | 229 | 7.8 |
| Apr | 5 | 0 | -4 | 184 | 12.0 |
| May | 7 | 2 | -2 | 117 | 14.4 |
| Jun | 10 | 5 | 2 | 102 | 13.8 |
| Jul | 11 | 7 | 3 | 126 | 11.1 |
| Aug | 11 | 6 | 3 | 154 | 9.3 |
| Sep | 9 | 4 | 1 | 241 | 6.2 |
| Oct | 6 | 1 | -2 | 241 | 4.3 |
| Nov | 3 | -2 | -5 | 225 | 1.9 |
| Dec | 2 | -3 | -7 | 273 | 0.7 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (95 m) and the rim (834 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 | 115% | 92% | 98% | 101% | 113% | 129% | 75% | 142% | 121% | 56% | 95% | 53% |
| 2021 | 38% | 84% | 75% | 102% | 51% | 186% | 70% | 66% | 135% | 90% | 101% | 79% |
| 2022 | 115% | 83% | 228% | 69% | 160% | 109% | 112% | 129% | 60% | 53% | 108% | 23% |
| 2023 | 90% | 143% | 52% | 120% | 185% | 143% | 17% | 44% | 98% | 69% | 48% | 57% |
| 2024 | 84% | 55% | 83% | 55% | 120% | 110% | 112% | 121% | 79% | 90% | 132% | 102% |
| 2025 | 95% | 160% | 100% | 61% | 128% | 96% | 115% | 109% | 134% | 62% | 26% | 84% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Hvítárgljúfur
Iceland
- 656 mDepth
- 11 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 31°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q27005188) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| River flow and basin | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| 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
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
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