Barnafoss - a waterfall with a sad legend in the background. Map, parking, sightseeing
Rapid cascade
Waterfall Barnafoss is typical cascading waterfall, consisting of several consecutive, successive drops of water. If you add up the height of all the cascades, the total height of the waterfall would be 9 meters. However, it is not the height of the waterfall that determines its beauty, but the location and arrangement of the cascades.
The bed becomes very narrow here and the waters of the Hvita River, flowing into the cascade of the Barnes waterfall, are strongly dammed up. At the same time, they accelerate significantly and the current becomes very strong and rushing. The waters hit the walls of the ravine with great force, taking the form of white, angry foam.
The name of the waterfall
Barnafoss is a combination of two words: barna = children and foss = waterfall. The waterfall is named after the legend of two children who died in its crazy waters.
It happened on Christmas night, when the parents of two children went to church for mass, leaving the children unattended. Children, against the ban, left home and followed their parents to church. Their traces cut off at the natural stone bridge that still existed over the waterfall then.
Today the stone, natural bridge is no more. According to one legend of its destruction, the mother of the children was ordered to order that no one would ever lose their life here again. Other accounts mention the earthquake that destroyed the stone footbridge, and still others mention spells, curses, runes, etc. There are so many versions that everyone will find something for themselves.
Today there is a solid bridge here and you don't have to worry, you can go to the other side and watch the water of the waterfall.
Sightseeing
Access to the waterfall is unlimited and free. In its immediate vicinity there is a car park, and right next to the car park, there is a catering point and toilets.
There is another waterfall adjacent to the Barnafoss waterfall, with a contrasting appearance: Hraunfossar - [click]. Both waterfalls are viewed at once.
A comfortable dirt path leads from the parking lot. It is divided in several places, leading to other viewpoints from which you can admire the next fragments of the cascades.
Due to the fact that the water flows in deep rock crevices, the Barnafoss waterfall
you cannot see the whole thing at once. So let's go to the available viewpoints to get to know the whole waterfall. At first, the waterfall may not seem very impressive, but after looking at it from the available viewpoints, it all adds up to a very nice whole. The place is worth visiting.
The viewpoints are close to each other, and the total length of the walking paths connecting them is maybe 500m.
There are lava caves near the waterfalls: Víðgelmir, Surtshellir and Stefánshellir, but access to them takes an off-road road (marked with the letter F), which can only be accessed by an off-road car.
Access and parking
Getting to the waterfalls should not be difficult, as long as you use car navigation. For the sake of convenience, I provide the geographic coordinates of the parking lot at the waterfalls. Just click and the navigation on the phone will lead you by itself.
Parking at Barnafoss waterfall, GPS coordinates:
64°42’06.1″N 20°58’42.2″W
64.701696, -20.978379 - click and route
Hotels and accommodation
Below you will find several suggestions for accommodation in the vicinity of the waterfall. Perhaps you will like one of them, or it will turn out to be relatively wallet-friendly 🙂
If not, then I also provide a link to all of them current offers from the vicinity of the waterfall - [click]. If you do not find anything suitable on this list, then the accommodation may be a small problem.
Hotel A - [click]
Guesthouse Gamli Bær - [click]
Hotel Húsafell - [click]
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