Svartifoss Waterfall Hike – Iceland: Ultimate Guide and Review

Iceland is chock-full of waterfalls – they’re everywhere you look – some are right off the road and others, like Svartifoss, require a hike. Why would you want to hike to a waterfall when they are literally all around you in Iceland? Well, Svartifoss is a bit different in that it is surrounded by black basalt columns, making it much more unique than other waterfalls in this country. So if you’re wondering if you should add Svartifoss hike to your Iceland itinerary, and want to know everything about this hike before you go, read on!

Table of Contents

• Svartifoss Hike – Quick Details
• Svartifoss Waterfall – Location
• Lodging near Svartifoss Waterfall
• Our Experience Hiking to Svartifoss Waterfall
• Return Hike from Svartifoss
• Final Thoughts – Svartifoss Waterfall Hike in Iceland
• More About Iceland

Svartifoss Hike – Quick Details

Time required: About an hour and a half to complete the hike
Distance: 2 miles round trip
Elevation gain: 430 feet
Type: Out and back
Cost: 750 ISK / roughly $5 USD for parking
Hours: The park is open 24 hours

Svartifoss Waterfall – Location

Svartifoss is located in Vatnajökull National Park, which is also famous for the Skaftafell glacier. This area is about a 4 hour drive from Reykjavik, so this is something you’d want to do on a Ring Road trip; it’s too far for a day trip from Reykjavik.

It’s located between the popular tourist areas of Vik and Hofn, so it makes sense to do this while staying in either town. We were traveling the ring road clockwise, and spent the night in Hofn before continuing our journey. Svartifoss was one of the stops that day, as we were en route to Vik.

For parking, you can park at the Skaftafell Visitor Center area. We arrived in the early afternoon and even though it was busy, there was plenty of parking. Parking is roughly $5 USD, but admission to the National Park is free.

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Lodging near Svartifoss Waterfall

For lodging, we stayed at the (somewhat) nearby Hunkubakkar Guesthouse after we visited here. This guesthouse is essentially located in the middle of nowhere, but closer to Vik than Hofn. We just couldn’t find lodging in Vik that wasn’t under $500/night, so we ended up here. You can read my review. Spoiler alert – this was the worst place we stayed during our ring road trip!

The previous night, we stayed at the lovely Milk Factory guesthouse in Hofn.

Essentially, you’d want to stay in either Vik or Hofn, depending on which way you’re traveling the Ring Road.

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Our Experience Hiking to Svartifoss Waterfall

After we parked, we headed to the visitor center to get our bearings. During our time here at Vatnajökull National Park, we planned to hike to both the waterfall and to Skaftafell Glacier. The hikes are at opposite ends of the visitor center; the trailhead for Svartifoss is located to the left of the visitor center, while the trail to Skaftafell Glacier is off to the left.

Most of this hike is completely uphill, which can make the hike seem much longer than it actually is. For much of the way, the trail is nicely graded with wiring underneath (? I don’t know the correct term for this!), so that the trail is easy to walk on without much in the way of rocks, though it is a steady uphill climb.

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Along the way, you will encounter two other, smaller waterfalls. I must’ve not been impressed because I only bothered to photograph one of them. After all, the star of the show is Svartifoss!

Even though the trail is nicely graded for much of the way, as you get closer to Svartifoss, the trail gets more rocky. Make sure to wear proper footwear when hiking to this waterfall.

After doing all that uphill climbing, you will reach a plateau area, which will be a welcome relief! You’ll be able to see Svartifoss off in the distance.

From here, just keep following the trail down to the base of waterfall. At the base, there will be a viewing platform for you to take as many photos as you’d like. We did find this to be quite crowded, however most people were respectful of each other, with no one ‘hogging’ the best viewpoints. If you want to hang around longer, there are plenty of large rocks around this area for you to stop and enjoy a snack.

Related: Going to Iceland? Read all of my Iceland posts here!

Return Hike from Svartifoss

To get back to the parking lot, the quickest way is to simply turn around and go back the way you came. However, if you have more time, you can turn this hike into a loop hike by going across the bridge at the bottom of the falls, and going up the opposite side of the canyon. This hike leads you to some turf houses, and meets up near the end of the main Svartifoss hike. It’s a bit longer than doing the out-and-back, so we didn’t bother with this. We wanted to hike to the glacier after Svartifoss.

Final Thoughts – Svartifoss Waterfall Hike in Iceland

Overall, this was a fun hike and the waterfall was very unique, surrounded by black basalt columns — and it was also nice to get a little exercise too — even though it’s only 430 feet of elevation gain, it’ll still get your heart pumping! If you have time to do this hike, I highly recommend it.

Pros:
– Interesting waterfall in a very unique setting
– Quick hike
– Trails well maintained and very easy to follow

Cons:
– A bit crowded at the waterfall
– Uphill hike can be challenging for some