Bergárfoss Waterfall Hike, North Iceland

Bergárfoss is a waterfall in North Iceland you can only hike to. It’s a bit of a hidden gem, nestled away in a small ravine where few people get to.

It’s about 40 meters tall, and the volume of water is quite impressive also because of the relatively narrow passage at the top of the falls.

Bergárfoss

Bergárfoss is not too far from Kolugljúfur, another small, beautiful canyon that has seen increased popularity in the last few years.

However, this is only accessible with vehicles suitable for f-roads. Depending on the road conditions also bigger ones with higher clearance. This is also probably why not so many visit this place

Do note there is more than one Bergárfoss in Iceland. This one is located in the North, while the other one is in the East, close to Höfn.

Table of Contents

Overview of the Bergárfoss Waterfall Hike & Map

This is a short hike and while the trail isn;t marked, there is a fain trail nonetheless.

Here is the map of the hike.

How to get to Bergárfoss and Parking

As mentioned earlier, you need a car suitable for F-roads to get there.

Google Maps won’t give you the right directions, but will actually send you on the opposite side of the river toward someone’s farm. Don’t go there.

For the large part, the road is the same as you’d take to get to Kolugljufur. Once there, you need to keep following the road while keeping the river to your right.

• Driving Directions: From the ring road, take road 715 to Kolugljufur and keep going. You’ll pass by a farm, and you’ll have to drive through a gate. You can open it and pass, but make sure you close it properly behind you on your way in and on your way out. Such gates are usually in place to prevent cattle from wandering outside their pastures. Keep driving for another five minutes until you reach a small pullout area.
• Parking: there isn’t a real parking area, just a small pullout area on the side of the dirt track. Park the car when you see the “Dalsbrun” sign. I parked the car approximately here.
• Public Transport: none

The “Trailhead”.

The Bergárfoss Hiking Trail

As mentioned earlier, there isn’t much of a trail, but there is a trail nonetheless – albeit a fain one, barely visible in places.

Bergárfoss isn’t visible from either the road or the trail. You can, however, see that there is a small ravine not too far from the road, and a bigger one downhill, farther away.

First, get to the smaller raving, where you will have to follow the Vididalsa River downstream. This is the river from which Bergárfoss will stem out further down the side of the hill, into the bigger ravine.

The trail will disappear in places, but you can just keep following the river downstream. there are a few smaller waterfalls along the river, so this makes for quite a nice walk.

there are several, smaller waterfalls along the river.

At one point you’ll stumble upon Bergárfoss, at the top of the falls. From there you can walk down to the river basin, on the steep – and slippery – side of the hill.

Once on the flat bed of the river, you can walk quite close to the waterfall. Impressive view from down below, you can feel the power of the falls. And of course, the water spray!

View form the trail.

Bergárfoss Waterfall Photos and Photography Tips

There are quite a few good viewpoints around the fall. from the slopes leading down to it

The Waterfall faces south, so it would get decent light throughout most of the day. In the Golden hours, Bergárfoss should get some nice, warm light directly. I had arrived just a bit late to catch that on my visit, as the light was just fading away behind the hills to the west.

But anyway, make sure you have a microfibre cloth with you to wipe away moisture from your lens or filter. The water spray can be quite intense, even at a distance.

You will get soaked attempting this – I sure did..

Where to stay

Nothing in the immediate vicinity, it’s quite a rural location. This isn’t a place you’d normally stop at, however. You can easily visit for sunset or sunrise and get somewhere else.

Additional Resources

• Don’t miss Kolugljufur on your way there
• Check out more Hikes in Iceland (with maps) here.