Ásbyrgi Canyon
Ásbyrgi is a horseshoe-shaped canyon in northeast Iceland, about 3.5 kilometres long with cliff walls rising to 100 metres. Its sheltered floor is carpeted in birch and willow woodland, which is a genuinely rare sight in Iceland, and Norse mythology holds that the canyon was formed by the hoofprint of Sleipnir, Odin's eight-legged horse.
A Horseshoe-Shaped Canyon Carved by Ancient Floods in Northeast Iceland
Ásbyrgi was carved by catastrophic glacial outburst floods, known as jokulhlaups, that tore through northeast Iceland when ice dams broke and released enormous volumes of meltwater from the Vatnajokull glacier. Geologists believe two major events shaped the canyon, the first around 8,000 to 10,000 years ago and a second about 3,000 years ago. The river that created it, Jokulsá á Fjollum, now flows about two kilometres to the east, having shifted course since those ancient floods. What remained is a horseshoe-shaped depression 3.5 kilometres long and roughly one kilometre wide, with basalt walls rising to 100 metres on three sides. The sheltered interior created conditions unusual for Iceland, allowing dense birch and willow woodland to take hold on the canyon floor, giving the place a character quite different from the surrounding landscape.
Norse mythology offers its own explanation. According to legend, Ásbyrgi is the hoofprint left by Sleipnir, Odin's eight-legged horse, when the god flew too close to the earth during one of his journeys across the world. The name Ásbyrgi translates as Shelter of the Gods. The canyon is also strongly associated in Icelandic folk belief with the huldufólk, the hidden people or elves, and is considered by many to be one of their main settlements in Iceland. A 25-metre rock formation called Eyjan, meaning the Island, rises from the centre of the canyon floor and divides it almost in two. At the southern end of the canyon sits Botnstjorn, a small tranquil pond that makes for a peaceful destination on the easy walking trail from the car park.
Several walking trails of varying length and difficulty run through and around the canyon. The easiest leads to Botnstjorn in around 20 minutes. The Eyjan trail climbs to the top of the central rock formation and takes around two hours. Longer rim trails offer sweeping views of the entire horseshoe shape and connect Ásbyrgi to the broader Jokulsárgljúfur hiking area, with a 32-kilometre trail running all the way south to Dettifoss waterfall. A visitor centre near the entrance has trail maps, geological exhibits, and facilities. Ásbyrgi sits on Route 85 in northeast Iceland, about 40 kilometres east of Husavik and around 90 minutes from Akureyri. It is one of the key stops on the Diamond Circle route.
