Skútafoss - the Hidden Waterfall of the Cave in East Iceland

In my last travel-blog I showed you the magnificent waterfalls in the powerful glacial river Jökulsá á Fjöllum, but smaller freshwater rivers can also create beautiful waterfalls.

One such waterfall is hidden away in East Iceland. It is called Skútafoss - the Small cave falls and it is often referred to as the Hidden waterfall.

Top photo: Skútafoss waterfall 

Photo taken inside the cave at Skútafoss waterfall

One summer my father-in-law and I drove the ring road clockwise for 10 days just the two of us and by the end of our trip, we stayed by Mt. Vestrahorn.

We asked the proprietors at the Viking café where we were staying for the night, about the location of Skútafoss waterfall, as neither of us had visited this waterfall before, even though it is so close to ring-road 1.

Even though we have lived in Iceland our whole life, we haven't seen all of Iceland's natural treasures.

Skútafoss waterfall

Often hidden treasures can be found in the valleys of Iceland and Þorgeirsstaðadalur valley is no exception.

I have written several travel-blogs about what there is to see and do in the less-visited valleys of Iceland.

So the next evening after a whole day of exploring the Stokksnes peninsula, the Viking village movie set, and Mt. Vestrahorn we returned back and visited Skútafoss waterfall.

I will tell you about Mt. Vestrahorn and the Stokksnes peninsula in another travel-blog, as there is so much to see and do there.

Skútafoss waterfall 

There is only a short hike to the waterfall, but you will not notice the beautiful Skútafoss waterfall until you stand almost in front of it as there is a bend in the river, so the Hidden waterfall stays hidden until the very end.

As you can see in my photo above, then I was this close when the waterfall appeared.

It is so lovely visiting this waterfall as the settings are ever so beautiful and elegant.  There is a cave on the waterfall's right side, from which it gets its name.

Photo taken inside the cave

Skúti means a small cave in Icelandic, but I think it is relatively large, compared to the small caves which I refer to as skúti. 

From the cave, it is possible to get beautiful photos of the waterfall.

I didn't have a wide enough lens though during my visits to the waterfall, so I couldn't photograph the whole cave.

I have seen such photos and they are amazing.

Skútafoss up close

I have posted videos here but due to some error here on Guide to Iceland, they are not showing. Here is the link Skútafoss waterfall in East Iceland.

And here is a link to my video of Skútafoss from below.

You can also stand on the roof of the cave and watch Skútafoss from above. From there the waterfall looks quite different but equally breathtaking.

It is possible to walk behind the waterfall - my father-in-law is behind the waterfall

Skútafoss is a double waterfall, so to speak, as to the left of it is another much smaller waterfall. There were 2 smaller waterfalls to the left of Skútafoss during our visits.

They were relatively small when we visited as it didn't rain much in East Iceland that summer (2020), but I have heard that they can get quite big in springtime.

Most of the photos in this travel-blog were taken during our second visit to Skútafoss the following morning when we revisited the waterfall, as Skútafoss had been in the shadow on our first visit.

The dam in Þorgeirsstaðaá river and Fremstifoss waterfall

I have seen fantastic winter photos of the Skútafoss waterfall on the Facebook page of one of my friends who is a travel guide.

He allowed me to share a link to his photos of Skútafoss on Facebook. The frozen version of Skútafoss is beautiful, and when he walked behind the waterfall it looked like he was inside an ice cave.

The dam in Þorgeirsstaðaá river

Þorgeirsstaðaá river creates the beautiful Skútafoss waterfall. There are 3 waterfalls in this river in the valley; Innstifoss, Skútafoss, and Fremstifoss waterfalls. 

When you have parked your car and walked the short distance to Skútafoss waterfall, you will notice the dam in Fremstifoss waterfall in Þorgeirsstaðaá river.

The dam was built in 1966. It is no longer in use but there are plans of building another dam further down the river.

Fremstifoss and the course road

I also read in a report that there are plans for building a footbridge over the river and a campsite. Where I am not sure.

When we visited Skútafoss the gravel road was coarse and bumpy. Travellers on a camper van tried driving on this road during our visit and they had to return to the ring-road.

So take that into account if you plan on visiting Skútafoss waterfall.

Mt. Vestrahorn

We had fallen in love with this beautiful area and didn't want to leave yet. For the whole time during our 10-day trip around Iceland, we had been in luck as it was sunny and around 20 degrees C.

One never knows what the weather in Iceland is going to be like and I have visited this area in fog and 7 degrees C. And such low summer temperatures lasted for my whole journey around Iceland back then.

So be prepared for all types of weather when you visit Iceland.

We stayed in this cottage for the last night on our 10-day trip around Iceland

We wanted to make the most of our East Iceland visit and this beautiful weather, so I looked for another accommodation close by.

I found accommodation in a small cottage at Stafafell in Lón right in the middle of the 2 Horns, Mt. Vestrahorn, and Mt. Eystrahorn. From the cottage, there was a heavenly view of the Icelandic countryside, Lón, and the Horns.

The only sounds that could be heard were those of the birds and the sheep and the farmers who were haying. As the weather was so lovely we were able to both dine and have breakfast on the terrace.

Mt. Brunnhorn - often nicknamed the Batman mountain due to its shape

From the ring-road you will also see another horn, Mt. Brunnhorn, which is often nicknamed the Batman mountain.

When we were driving back the following day both of us were eager to see Skútafoss waterfall again in a different light, so we revisited it.

This was in August and we revisited Skútafoss in September when I drove the ring-road with my father-in-law and my husband. That day it was raining, so the best photos I got were during my second visit to Skútafoss waterfall.

Skútafoss waterfall

Here is the location of Skútafoss waterfall on Google maps. If you are driving the ring-road anticlockwise then it is on your left-hand side approximately 10 minutes after the Almannaskarðsgöng tunnel.

I have written another travel-blog about our stay at Vestrahorn:  A lovely Visit to Mt. Vestrahorn and Stokksnes in Southeast Iceland.

Have a lovely time in East Iceland :)