Hjálparfoss Waterfall
Hjálparfoss is a twin waterfall on the Fossá River in the Þjórsárdalur valley of South Iceland, where two parallel cascades drop side by side into a wide pool fringed with dark basalt columns. The name means the helpful waterfall, a reference to the time when travellers crossing the Icelandic highlands on horseback found that the green riverbanks beside the falls were the only reliable source of grass for their horses across the otherwise barren highland terrain. In an era before roads and maps, this patch of grazing was genuinely critical, and the name stuck. The falls are a short and easy five-minute walk from the car park and are free to visit, making them one of the more rewarding quick stops on a Þjórsárdalur or extended Golden Circle itinerary.
A Twin Waterfall Named After the Relief It Gave to Horses Crossing the Icelandic Highlands
Hjálparfoss sits on the Fossá River where it joins the much larger Þjórsá, Iceland's longest river, in the Þjórsárdalur valley southeast of Hekla volcano. The two falls drop in parallel over a lip of dark basalt into a shared pool, with the columns that form the pool's rim creating a natural frame around the water. The basalt geology here is part of the same volcanic system that produced the broader lava landscapes of the valley, and the columns around the pool show the same hexagonal cross-sections visible at Svartifoss and other basalt sites around Iceland. The valley setting is unusually lush for this part of Iceland, with the Fossá's banks supporting dense vegetation even as the terrain rises into more barren highland ground further north. The area around the falls is a protected nature reserve.
The name Hjálparfoss, meaning Help Falls or Helpful Waterfall, comes from the medieval period of highland travel in Iceland when horses were the primary means of crossing the interior. The Icelandic highlands are almost entirely devoid of vegetation suitable for grazing, and travellers moving north-south through the interior faced serious difficulty finding food for their animals. The riverbanks beside Hjálparfoss, where the altitude drops and the water creates more fertile conditions, provided the first reliable grass after a long highland crossing. This patch of grazing was known and relied upon by travellers for generations, giving the falls a practical significance well beyond their aesthetic appeal. The same valley holds the ruins of the medieval farm Stöng, buried by ash from the 1104 eruption of Hekla and considered one of the best-preserved Viking Age farm ruins in Iceland.
Hjálparfoss is located on Route 32 in the Þjórsárdalur valley, about 120 kilometres from Reykjavík and roughly 30 kilometres east of Flúðir. The car park is directly off the road and the walk to the falls takes around five minutes on a flat gravel path. The falls are free to visit year-round, though the approach road can be icy in winter. The valley is worth exploring further: the Gjáin canyon a short drive north is one of the most otherworldly small landscapes in Iceland, with dozens of small waterfalls tumbling through a moss-filled lava gorge. Háifoss, one of Iceland's tallest waterfalls at 122 metres, is accessible further up the valley on a rougher road requiring a 4WD vehicle.
