Stakkholtsgja Canyon
Stakkholtsgja Canyon is a landscape in South Coast, Iceland — about 154 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
A canyon in Fimmvörðuháls Iceland. A lovely hike into the mysterious Stakkholtsgjá Canyon in southern Iceland.
As a photography stop, Stakkholtsgja Canyon is a landscape in South Coast, roughly 154 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 Landscape 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 landscape GPS map for Iceland to put Stakkholtsgja Canyon 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 canyon with a waterfall, reached as an excursion from Þórsmörk — a valley between Tindfjallajökull and Eyjafjallajökull with Mýrdalsjökull behind it, sheltered enough to be unusually green.
- The valley
- Þórsmörk, between Tindfjallajökull and Eyjafjallajökull, closed at the back by Mýrdalsjökull
- Why it is green
- The ring of glaciers gives a sheltered microclimate and lush vegetation
- The canyon
- Stakkholtsgjá is a smaller excursion from the valley, with a waterfall in it
- The river
- The Krossá runs through Þórsmörk — cold and fast off the glaciers; a footbridge crosses it so walkers need not ford
- Getting there
- Coaches run daily from Reykjavík and other towns
- Not stated
- The source consulted does not say whether a private vehicle needs to be a large 4x4, or which rivers must be forded to drive in
The footbridge over the Krossá matters more than it sounds: it means arriving on foot or by coach avoids the fording that stops ordinary rental cars, so the practical question is not whether the canyon is reachable but by what. A glacier-sheltered microclimate also makes this one of the few places in the catalog where the subject is vegetation rather than rock, and it holds up in bad weather when open ground does not.
SourcesÞórsmörk — Wikipedia
Light & aurora at this spot
Calculated from this location’s coordinates (63.675, -19.557). Iceland stays on UTC year-round, so these are local times.
- Summer
- June: sun up 02:58–23:39 (20.7 h). Evening golden hour 21:50–23:39, light coming from the NNW.
- Winter
- December: only 4.5 h of daylight (10:59–15:27), but the sun never climbs above 3° — the entire day is golden hour. Sunrise bears SSE, sunset SSW.
- Aurora
- Aurora-grade darkness Sep–Mar, peaking at 12.8 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
Stakkholtsgja Canyon is a landscape in South Coast, Iceland, approximately 154 km from Reykjavik. Exact GPS coordinates are included in the downloadable Landscape map.
The recommended season for Stakkholtsgja Canyon 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.
Stakkholtsgja Canyon is best visited during Summer. Outside that window, expect limited access, weather closures, or significantly different photographic conditions.