Slæðufoss
Slæðufoss is a waterfall in East Iceland, Iceland — about 703 km from Reykjavik and reached by a drive to the trailhead and a short walk in (footwear and weather check). Shoot it during the summer window, when light, road status, and crowd levels line up for photography, then use the GPS coordinates, parking notes, and nearby waypoints below to fold this stop into a longer photography route.
Overview
Slæðufoss is located in the east of Iceland near mount Snæfell, 1 kilometer south of another beautiful waterfall Faxi.
As a photography stop, Slæðufoss is a waterfall in East Iceland, roughly 703 km from Reykjavik, reached by a drive to the trailhead and a short walk in (footwear and weather check). Plan the shoot during the summer window, when light, road status, and crowd levels line up for photography. 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.
Planning more than one stop? Open the Iceland waterfalls GPS map to put Slæðufoss on the same offline layer as everything nearby.
Notes on this location
Compiled from published sources rather than a visit. Sources are listed below.
A 5 m fall on the Laugará, a side river of the Jökulsá á Fljótsdal near Snæfell. The name means veil. Reached from road 910, which the source states is 4WD only, then a short walk.
- Height
- About 5 m
- Name
- Slæðufoss — veil
- River
- The Laugará, a side river of the Jökulsá á Fljótsdal
- Getting there
- Road 931 from Egilsstaðir along Lagarfljót, then road 910 (Austurleið) about 35 km toward Snæfell. The source states road 910 is 4WD only and warns about river crossings. A short walk on a path reaches the fall
- Distance to Faxi, disputed
- The source places it about 1 km south of Faxi in its text and 9 km from Faxi in its distance table
- Nearby
- Stuðlafoss 5 km, also on the Laugará; Kirkjufoss 4 km; Eyjabakkafoss 10 km
- The circuit
- Part of a route from near Kleif farm through birch woods taking in Gjögurfossar, Faxi, Kirkjufoss, Hrakstrandarfoss and Eyjabakkafoss
A 5 m fall is not worth a 4WD road with river crossings on its own — it is worth it as one stop on a circuit that has five more. Treat the drive as the commitment and the falls as the return, rather than the other way round.
Light & aurora at this spot
Calculated from this location’s coordinates (64.886, -15.371). Iceland stays on UTC year-round, so these are local times.
- Summer
- 21.8 h of daylight in June and the sun barely sets, dipping only 1.8° below the horizon — effectively continuous golden light through the small hours.
- Winter
- December: only 3.8 h of daylight (11:03–14:50), but the sun never climbs above 1.8° — the entire day is golden hour. Sunrise bears SSE, sunset SSW.
- Aurora
- Aurora-grade darkness Sep–Mar, peaking at 13 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
Slæðufoss is a waterfall in East Iceland, Iceland, approximately 703 km from Reykjavik. Exact GPS coordinates are included in the downloadable Waterfall map.
The recommended season for Slæðufoss is Summer. 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/Hike access. Bring weather-appropriate footwear and check conditions before setting out. The downloadable GPS map puts the waypoint on your phone; your own app routes you to it from wherever you are.
Slæðufoss is best visited during Summer. Outside that window, expect limited access, weather closures, or significantly different photographic conditions.