The two waterfalls you pass on the way to Reynisfjara
A close look at Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss, the pair of giants on the road to Reynisfjara: the walk behind one, the stairs and the legend of gold at the other, and which is worth your minutes.
By Björn Einarsson, Iceland South Coast tour guide and local specialist
You hear Skogafoss before you see it properly, a flat roar that grows as you walk toward it across the gravel. Then it opens up in front of you, sixty metres of white water dropping in a single clean sheet, and the spray it throws hangs in the air so thick that on a sunny day there is almost always a rainbow parked at its foot. I have watched first-time visitors stop dead and just laugh at the size of it.
Both of the big South Coast waterfalls sit on the road between Reykjavik and Reynisfjara, which means most people passing through get both on the same day without planning it. They are very different animals, and they reward you for knowing what you are walking into.
What makes Seljalandsfoss worth stopping for?
You can walk a path right behind the falling water and look out through the curtain, which almost no waterfall this size lets you do. Seljalandsfoss is the show-off with the party trick. It drops from a tall lip of rock that overhangs a hollow, so a path curls right around the back of the falling water and you can stand behind the curtain looking out through it. Almost no other waterfall of this size lets you do that. It is a genuinely strange sensation, the water thundering past a couple of arm-lengths in front of your face, the world beyond it blurred and shimmering.
The catch is that you will get wet. The spray drifts everywhere and the path behind is slick with it, so a real waterproof and shoes with grip are not optional. In deep winter the back path often ices over and closes for safety, so that party trick is mostly a fair-weather one.
Just up the cliff from the main falls hides Gljufrabui, a second waterfall tucked inside a slot in the rock. You wade a short way up a stream through a narrow gap to reach it, and most people walk straight past without knowing it is there. If you have the time and do not mind wet feet, it is one of the better small surprises on the coast.
What makes Skogafoss worth the stop?
A broad sixty-metre curtain you can walk right up to, plus a staircase to a top-down view and a Viking gold legend. Skogafoss does not hide anything. It is a broad, sixty-metre curtain that hits a flat plain, so you can walk right up to the base until the spray drives you back. A long metal staircase climbs the cliff beside it to a viewing platform at the top, and from up there the falls become a different sight entirely, with the river snaking away inland and the coast spread out behind you. The stairs are a real climb, several hundred steps, and your legs will tell you about it.
The legend is the good part. The story goes that a Viking settler named Thrasi buried a chest of gold in the cave behind the falls. Years later someone is said to have hooked a ring on the side of the chest and hauled, only for the ring to tear away, leaving the gold where it lies to this day. The ring, so the tale runs, ended up on a church door nearby. It is folklore, not history, but standing under all that water it is easy to see why the story stuck.
If you would rather not drive Route 1 to line these up yourself, the guided [South Coast day trip](https://www.getyourguide.com/reykjavik-l30/southern-iceland-tour-t67018/?partner_id=MME1WGW&utm_medium=online_publisher) from Reykjavik stops at both Skogafoss and Seljalandsfoss on the same run as Reynisfjara, which is the tidiest way to see the whole set in a single day without touching the wheel.
How do Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss compare?
One walks you behind the water, the other lets you climb above it; here they are line by line.
| Feature | Seljalandsfoss | Skogafoss |
|---|---|---|
| Height | Tall, narrow drop over an overhang | About 60 metres, broad curtain |
| Signature move | Walk the path behind the water | Climb the stairs to the top view |
| You will get | Soaked from drifting spray | Rainbows on sunny days |
| Effort | Easy loop, slick footing | Several hundred steps for the top |
| Hidden extra | Gljufrabui in its slot canyon | The legend of Thrasi's gold |
| Winter note | Back path often iced and closed | Base accessible, stairs can ice |
How long should I give each one?
About thirty minutes apiece is enough to feel them properly on a full South Coast day. On a full South Coast day these are stops, not destinations, and thirty minutes at each is enough to feel them properly if you move with intent. At Seljalandsfoss, decide fast whether you are doing the wet walk behind, because that is the whole reason to stop. At Skogafoss, decide whether your legs want the stairs; the view from the top is worth it, but the base alone still delivers the full scale and the rainbow.
Both are free, both are extraordinary, and both are on the way to a beach that outdoes them for drama. Get wet at one, climb the other, and you will arrive at Reynisfjara already convinced the South Coast was worth the early start.