Can we take a minute to appreciate how absolutely incredible planet earth is?
Everywhere I’ve ever traveled has left me with a sense of wonder. That wonder has never been more powerful than on my trip to Iceland. The island is so obscure, it becomes jaw-dropping. You can’t tear your eyes away. Green rolling hills that abruptly turn into vast sweeping mountains. Almost no natural trees. Glacial formations and bays overflowing with icebergs that look more like a green screen than reality. Turquoise blue rivers. Black sand beaches. Basalt columns formed so particularly it looks as if someone manually stacked them along the beaches and cliffs. Sudden patches of boiling, sulfur smelling earth that shoot water and churn mud into bubbling grey clay. And the waterfalls. Waterfalls spilling over cliff sides and suddenly appearing in the middle of volcanic fields or an otherwise calm looking countryside, gushing water without any indication of where the water could be flowing from. The most incredible works of art.
Why would humans ever make conscious choices to harm this gorgeous place we ALL call home? Why wouldn’t we all want to take simple steps to reduce our individual carbon footprint? Each time I go through pictures from this trip and then see the news flooded with natural disasters, I feel so called to do something. To do more than just talk about climate change or argue with people who deny science. I’ve been doing some research this week and I’ve found some helpful resources on little things we can do each day to help our world. To help our home. To help the beautiful places we live and travel.
A couple articles about things you can start doing TODAY can be found here, here, and here. I am making a list of things I’m personally going to start implementing and I’ll share those in a future wellness post, because let’s be honest: the wellness of our earth affects our own personal wellness, too.
But back to those waterfalls: those stunning, powerful works of art Iceland is filled with. Here is a complete list of all the notable waterfalls on our road trip. They’re in the order we saw them driving counter clockwise around the Ring Road. These are by no means all the waterfalls we saw. No, we saw waterfalls practically every singe time we turned our heads while driving. Many we’re on private land or so far off the road it would have been too much of a detour. These are all fairly well-known and accessible. The only exception is Svartifoss, which we had to hike too. You’ll see below why that was worth the extra trip.
1. Gullfoss
First waterfall we came across on the Golden Circle. Very busy, but regardless, stunning. You can see the size comparison of these falls in the bottom photo with the tourists on the left.
2. Seljalandsfoss
Once you leave the Golden Circle and head to South Iceland, you can’t miss this cascading waterfall from the road. It’s still a fairly crowded, but again, completely worth it. Seljalandsfoss was unique because it was the only waterfall that had a trail running behind it giving you one-of-a-kind views.
3. Skógafoss
THERE WAS A LITERAL RAINBOW AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS WATERFALL. Gorgeous green pastures with sheep and horses on either side ran directly into this massive waterfall. There was a freakin’ rainbow (did I mention that already?) at the bottom and you could hike to the top to see it from a completely different vantage point. This is tied for my favorite waterfall.
4. Svartifoss
The waterfall tied for my favorite. Svartifoss cuts into the landscape from out of nowhere and its basalt formations are unbelievable. It was pretty rainy when we reached this waterfall so I don’t feel like I had the opportunity to truly soak it in, but looking back at the photos, I am amazed. This was the only waterfall we had to hike to in Skaftafell National Park.
5. Dettifoss
HUGE waterfall in North Iceland, a bit of a haul off the main road. Unfortunately I think we drove up the wrong side of it (and there’s no crossing once you’re there). It was really wet and misty. My camera did a pretty piss poor job of capturing this so the largest portion was a bit of let down. Stumbling across all the mini waterfalls upstream was a nice reward for our drive.
6. Goðafoss
Oh this beaut. Turquoise waters. A panorama of a waterfall with one stream highlighted perfectly in the middle for dramatic effect (Thanks, Mother Nature!). A lovely walking path on both sides is joined by a pedestrian bridge where you get to take in how blue this water really is. You’re able to hike down to the water’s edge and just take in all of Goðafoss’ grandeur.
7. Kirkjufellsfoss
The background of this small, but beautiful waterfall seals the ultimate viewing deal. Snowy peaks and a green mountain range from one angle and then the very distinct Kirkjufell mountain from the other (GAME OF THRONES ANYONE?)
8. Svöðufoss
A surprise waterfall not found in our guidebook or on our map! We saw a sign for this guy while driving the Snafellsness Peninsula and decided to take a chance on the bumpy dirt road leading to it. Completely worth it. This was the least busy waterfall of the trip and had only 3 other people milling about. We scaled the side of it for fun and were treated to beautiful views of not only Svöðufoss but the the whole peninsula.
9. Hraunfosser and Barnafoss
Last major waterfalls on our last day in Iceland. These patterned falls were fun to watch from across the river, although I’m still completely mystified where the water was coming from. Turquoise blue water against the green countryside made for a beautiful contrast.
Hoping to get an Iceland Part Three blog post in before I’m headed on my next trip (this weekend!!!). I’ll give you a hint on destination – there will be waterfalls.
“We have not inherited this earth from our parents to do with it what we will. We have borrowed it from our children.”
xo,
