Gullfoss: Don’t Fall In

The day before we visited Gullfoss (on July 20), a massive and powerful waterfall within a few hours’ drive of Reykjavik, Iceland, a man fell in. I can easily envision this happening, as I was carefully watching my step on wet slippery rocks alongside a steep grassy hillside leading to the falls. That day, I thought to myself, “you don’t survive a fall into Gullfoss.” The 22-year-old man’s body was found miles down the Hvita River nearly a month later. This sad incident is a safety warning to all future visitors.

You can see a line of visitors walking the path to get a close look at Gullfoss, as it crashes into a crevice in the foreground.

This vantage point shows the crevice where the cascade thunders downward. For scale, notice the tourists in the upper right of the photo.