A lake that burst
Glacial lake water cut the channel some nine thousand years ago.
Johannes Gregotsch — CC BY 3.0 · lydia harper lids_harper — CC0 · Joss Woodhead josswoodhead — CC0 · Andrés Nieto Porras from Palma de Mallorca, España — CC BY-SA 2.0
A narrow, serpentine canyon in southern Iceland, about a hundred metres deep and two kilometres long, with walls covered in green moss and a small river running along its floor. Its formation dates to the end of the last ice age around nine thousand years ago: a glacial lake burst and its water cut a path through the soft sandstone, carving this winding channel. The serpentine shape follows directly from that — the water traced weaknesses in the rock rather than cutting a straight line. The site became internationally famous after appearing in a 2015 music video, and the crowding and path erosion that followed led the authorities to close it temporarily more than once to protect the vegetation. Important practical points: the path runs along the upper rim, not the canyon floor — descending is forbidden. The moss is extremely fragile and takes decades to recover from being trodden on, so stay strictly on the marked path. The site closes seasonally in spring during the snowmelt — check before going.
Glacial lake water cut the channel some nine thousand years ago.
It takes decades to recover from footsteps — stay on the path.
A 2015 music video brought crowds that forced repeated closures.
Near Kirkjubæjarklaustur, south Iceland
Because the vegetation on the walls and floor is extremely fragile and slow-growing in the Icelandic climate — trodden moss takes decades to return. The crowding that followed the site's fame damaged large areas and it was closed temporarily more than once. Staying on the upper path is not a suggestion but the condition of the site remaining open.
The south road: Skógafoss, Seljalandsfoss, Reynisfjara beach and Vík, and further east Jökulsárlón. Fjaðrárgljúfur sits roughly between Vík and Jökulsárlón, so it is a logical stop on the south coast route — which needs at least two days, not one.
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