Nauthúsagil Waterfall

There are all kinds of waterfalls in Iceland. In fact, there are so many of them that you get used to them. That wow factor that you experience in the beginning gives way to a simple acknowledgment: “another waterfall”. However, there is still something magical and never dull about waterfalls that are hidden inside mountain ravines and canyons. Nauthúsagil waterfall is such a place, a little challenging to get to but absolutely unforgettable once you get past all the obstacles.

The trail that leads to the waterfall starts off Route F249, past Seljalandsfoss and on its way to Thórsmörk. There is parking off the road, and it is easy to spot because there are usually cars parked there as well as many people going towards the hills.

The area around the parking lot has pretty good views, and nothing betrays the fact that just a couple of hundreds of yards away the views are completely different.

The trail leads to a narrow ravine. A small shallow creek goes through the ravine floor and leads to a small waterfall.

This is where the scary part of getting to Nauthúsagil starts. It is not visible in this picture, but there is a metal chain on the left side of the ravine that you need to hold onto in order to climb the slippery rock along the ravine walls and up the small waterfall to get to Nauthúsagil.

When we got to that point there were a lot of people who would just stay there and watch other people climb up and down the waterfall. Half of the people turned back because the process of climbing the wet rocks seemed very hard and unsafe. We probably stayed in that spot for half an hour, unable to decide if we should try the climb. After a while, a woman who was returning came up to us and said that in reality, the climb was not as hard as it looked. So, we went forward.

And we were glad we took the risk and climbed up that waterfall. The chain helped a lot, and we have not even gotten very wet. After the climb, we had to see this amazing place.

Curiously, no one climbed after us, so we had as much time to spend at the waterfall alone as we wished, the last of the bravest. 🙂