Stuðlagil

For most of its history Stuðlagil was barely seen at all. The canyon lies in Jökuldalur in East Iceland, where the glacial river Jökulsá á Dal – known locally as Jökla – runs between walls of basalt columns. Until the late 2000s the river ran so high and so heavy with silt that the lower parts of the walls were under water. Then the Kárahnjúkar hydropower project, completed in 2009, diverted much of the flow, cutting the river's average discharge roughly in half, and the canyon emerged: tiers of hexagonal columns, some standing straight, some curving and fanning like the ribs of a shell, closing in on a narrow channel of strikingly coloured water. It became widely known only after 2016, when a local photographer documented and named it.

The columns are the product of thick lava flows that cooled slowly and contracted evenly, cracking into regular polygons, and in Stuðlagil they appear in unusual variety – straight colonnades, tilted bundles and rosettes – with dark rock against bright moss on the rims. The colour of the river is the other half of the spectacle. In early summer, fine glacial silt held in the water gives it a bluish-green, almost turquoise cast against the grey and bronze of the stone. From around August into October the Hálslón reservoir upstream overflows, and the river turns a muddy grey-brown, so the canyon has two quite different faces depending on the month.

There are two ways to see it. From the west bank, at the farm of Grund, a set of steps and platforms gives a view down into the canyon from above. On the east side, a walk from the Klaustursel area leads along the river to the canyon floor and passes Stuðlafoss, a waterfall framed by its own basalt columns. The river itself is fast and powerful, and entering it is forbidden. In spring, between early May and mid June, pink-footed geese nest in the area and walkers are asked to keep to the marked paths.

Getting there

Stuðlagil lies off Route 1 in East Iceland, about 52 km and roughly an hour's drive from Egilsstaðir, the region's main town; Akureyri is around 140 km away. Egilsstaðir Airport (EGS) has daily Icelandair flights from Reykjavík; the small Vopnafjörður Airport (VPN), about 66 km away, is closer in a straight line. For the west-side platforms, follow Road 923 to Grund, which has parking and toilets. For the east side, there are two car parks near Klaustursel: one by the bridge over the Jökla, about 10 km on foot there and back, and one by Stuðlafoss, about 5 km there and back.