Goðafoss from both banks

From the west car park follow the paved path south-west to the viewpoints on the west bank and on to the upper viewpoint level with the brink of the falls. Come back along the lower riverside path to the old bridge beside the Ring Road bridge and cross to the east bank at Fosshóll. Walk up the east bank, partly beside road 844, past the small fall Geitafoss, to the viewpoints opposite Goðafoss. Return the same way to the bridge and the car park.

It is 2.6 km round with 32 m of ascent; allow about half an hour. The grade is Easy: paved and gravel paths with a few steps.

There is no crossing above the falls, so the east bank is there and back from the bridge. Goðafoss drops about 12 m across a horseshoe some 30 m wide; tradition says the lawspeaker threw his carvings of the old gods into it after Iceland took Christianity around 1000. Some edges are unfenced above fast, cold water, and spray makes the rock slippery and, from autumn to spring, icy. The falls have been a protected natural monument since 2020.

We found no parking fee at either car park. Both are right off the Ring Road; Strætó route 56, between Akureyri and Egilsstaðir, stops at Fosshóll on the east bank on set days.

Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.