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Stuðlagil canyon jokuldalur iceland-12

Iceland Iceland Canyon

Stuðlagil

332 m of rock, cut by the Eyvindará.

See the cutWhen to go

Emstrur · CC BY-SA 4.0

The cut

332 metres, to scale.

A slice through Stuðlagil where it is deepest and narrowest, measured on the Copernicus relief model every 30 m. Same scale as the landmark standing on the floor.

601 m597 m332 m6.4 km rim to rim1.0 kmvertical scale × 2.1601 m597 m332 m6.4 km rim to rim1.0 kmvertical scale × 3.0

Standing on the floor, to scale: Great Pyramid · 139 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.

332m

Depth

measured on the 30 m relief model

6.4km

Rim to rim

measured on the 30 m relief model

16°

Steepest wall

average over 300 m, from the relief

0.5km

Length

Rim to floor

2 °C warmer at the bottom.

In July the afternoon reaches 12 °C on the floor, against 10 °C on the rim. The rim freezes at night from October to May.

rim · 601 mfloor · 265 m
  1. -1°-3°Jan
  2. -1°-3°Feb
  3. 0°-2°Mar
  4. 2°0°Apr
  5. 5°3°May
  6. 10°8°Jun
  7. 12°10°Jul
  8. 11°9°Aug
  9. 8°6°Sep
  10. 4°1°Oct
  11. 0°-2°Nov
  12. -1°-3°Dec
Frost on the rim: Oct–May

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.

Ravine in Jökuldalur, Eastern Region of Iceland

Stuðlagil is a canyon in Iceland, cut by the Eyvindará river. The relief model measures 332 m from the floor to the lower rim. It runs for 0.5 km. Rim to rim it is 6.4 km wide where the cut was taken.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there.

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 Eyvindará runs highest from May to June.

The Eyvindará carries about 68 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from May to June, fed by melting snow.

  1. 57 m³/sJan
  2. 13 m³/sFeb
  3. 17 m³/sMar
  4. 99 m³/sApr
  5. 221 m³/sMay
  6. 161 m³/sJun
  7. 88 m³/sJul
  8. 47 m³/sAug
  9. 55 m³/sSep
  10. 93 m³/sOct
  11. 104 m³/sNov
  12. 77 m³/sDec

From about 13 m³/s in the lowest month to 221 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 2,088 km².

The Jökulsá á Dal from source to mouth on Riveryas — coming soon

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.

Stuðlagil seen from above (Sentinel-2) N 4 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 14 × 14 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around the canyon.

  • 8viewpoints within 5 km
  • 3footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
  • 1named waterfalls within 4 kmStuðlafoss
  • 5car parks within 3 km
  • 2information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
  • 1campsites within 8 kmStuðlagil
  • 1restaurants and cafés within 4 km
  • marked hiking routes within 4 km
  • via ferrata routes within 4 km
  • climbing crags within 3 km
  • rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
  • swimming spots within 3 km
  • caves within 3 km
  • bus stops within 2 km
  • hotels and guesthouses within 8 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 Stuðlagil.

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.

Riveryas1 rivers in the canyon
Jökulsá á Dal150 km · 152 m³/s
Cascadyas1 waterfalls nearbyComing soon
Stuðlafoss · 0.9 km
Peakyas2 mountains within 15 km
Svartalda · 8.0 kmBugalda · 14 km
Lakeyas4 lakes within 15 kmComing soon
Gripdeild1.5 km² · 9.0 kmÁnavatn4.2 km² · 13 kmÞverárvatn0.8 km² · 13 kmStóravatn (lanaw sa Islandya, Austurland)0.3 km² · 15 km

Figures 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon · floor-1-1025101211840-1
Afternoon · rim-3-3-203810961-2-3
Night · rim-9-9-8-6-22431-3-7-8
Rain (mm)126107106938978109108125141133125
Rainy days211820181718202020212020
Sun hours/day0.41.13.86.47.37.65.95.03.51.60.60.4
Snow on the ground (cm)54697863254117152439
Afternoon · floorAfternoon · rimNight · rimRain (mm)Sun hours/day
Jan-1-3-91260.4
Feb-1-3-91071.1
Mar0-2-81063.8
Apr20-6936.4
May53-2897.3
Jun1082787.6
Jul121041095.9
Aug11931085.0
Sep8611253.5
Oct41-31411.6
Nov0-2-71330.6
Dec-1-3-81250.4

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (265 m) and the rim (601 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Photographs

Seen from the trail.

Canyon di Stuðlagil 01
Syrio · CC BY-SA 4.0
Stuðlagil Canyon 1
Maxim Bilovitskiy · CC BY 4.0
Stuðlagil Canyon 2
Maxim Bilovitskiy · CC BY 4.0

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
202075%139%85%89%52%83%78%73%116%134%90%173%
202171%119%85%39%62%131%36%36%123%144%86%69%
202268%123%116%87%151%153%102%92%82%100%222%59%
202384%67%111%114%78%125%77%46%138%103%77%50%
202468%69%153%78%74%102%74%158%54%77%52%42%
2025118%123%60%79%68%211%63%78%143%59%47%123%

130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month

Compare with the neighbours.

Stuðlagil

Iceland

  • 332 mDepth
  • 6.4 kmRim to rim
  • 0.5 kmLength
  • 16°Steepest wall

Hafrahvammagljúfur

Iceland · 31 km

  • 232 mDepth
  • 1.6 kmRim to rim
  • —Length
  • 33°Steepest wall

See the guide

Jökulsárgljúfur

Iceland · 104 km

  • 163 mDepth
  • 5.8 kmRim to rim
  • 24 kmLength
  • 20°Steepest wall

See the guide

Drekagil

Iceland · 64 km

  • 241 mDepth
  • 10 kmRim to rim
  • —Length
  • 18°Steepest wall

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and lengthWikidata (Q97260351) · CC0
The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
River flow and basinHydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0
ClimateNASA POWER, 1991–2020
Viewpoints, trails, bridges and the river line© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Rivers, waterfalls, mountains, lakes, beaches and islands nearbyCoastya, 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?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.You are here