Barnafossar
Barnafossar is a waterfall in West Iceland, Iceland — about 126 km from Reykjavik and reached by a straightforward drive from the nearest highway turnoff. Shoot it year-round, though winter wind, ice, and short daylight rework the shot list, then use the GPS coordinates, parking notes, and nearby waypoints below to fold this stop into a longer photography route.
Overview
Barnafoss is also known as Bjarnafoss, which was its previous name. The waterfall is located in Western Region of Iceland.
As a photography stop, Barnafossar is a waterfall in West Iceland, roughly 126 km from Reykjavik, reached by a straightforward drive from the nearest highway turnoff. Plan the shoot year-round, though winter wind, ice, and short daylight rework the shot list. The downloadable Waterfall map pins exact GPS coordinates, parking, and nearby waypoints so you can fold it into a wider route instead of hunting for the pull-off on arrival.
Barnafossar sits inside all 43 waterfall locations, alongside the other spots worth routing a day around.
Notes on this location
Compiled from published sources rather than a visit. Sources are listed below.
Barnafossar sits just upstream of Hraunfossar on the Hvítá in Borgarfjörður. Hraunfossar is not one fall but rivulets emerging straight out of the Hallmundarhraun lava field along about 900 m of bank.
- Hraunfossar
- A series of falls formed by rivulets streaming from ledges of less porous rock, spread over about 900 m
- Where the water comes from
- Out of the Hallmundarhraun lava field, itself from an eruption beneath Langjökull
- River
- Both pour into the Hvítá in Borgarfjörður
- The name
- "Waterfall of the children" — from an accident in which two children fell from a natural bridge over the falls; by legend their mother then destroyed it
The water at Hraunfossar arrives out of the lava wall rather than over a lip, so there is no single drop to frame — the subject is a 900 m band of springs, which suits a long lens picking out sections far better than one wide shot trying to hold all of it. Barnafossar immediately upstream is the opposite: narrow, fast and violent. Two very different frames a few minutes apart.
SourcesHraunfossar — Wikipedia
Light & aurora at this spot
Calculated from this location’s coordinates (64.661, -20.824). Iceland stays on UTC year-round, so these are local times.
- Summer
- June: sun up 02:39–00:09 (21.5 h). Evening golden hour 22:04–00:09, light coming from the NNW.
- Winter
- December: only 3.9 h of daylight (11:21–15:16), but the sun never climbs above 2.1° — the entire day is golden hour. Sunrise bears SSE, sunset SSW.
- Aurora
- Aurora-grade darkness Sep–Mar, peaking at 12.9 h a night in December. Not possible Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug — the sky never gets dark enough.
Bar height is daylight hours. Months marked • have enough astronomical darkness for aurora; the rest do not.
Questions & answers
Barnafossar is a waterfall in West Iceland, Iceland, approximately 126 km from Reykjavik. Exact GPS coordinates are included in the downloadable Waterfall map.
The recommended season for Barnafossar is All. For light, plan around blue hour and the first hour after sunrise; Iceland's long shoulder-season twilight extends usable conditions on either side.
Drive access. A standard rental car works in most seasons; check road status in winter before committing. The downloadable GPS map puts the waypoint on your phone; your own app routes you to it from wherever you are.
Yes — Barnafossar can be visited year-round, though winter conditions may require a 4x4 or storm-tolerant plans.