Karahnjúkar reseguide

Karahnjúkur describes two mountains and a power plant, found beside each other in East Iceland.

Explore this area on a self drive tour in Iceland.

Photo from Wikimedia, Creative Commons. Photo by Christoph Hess. No edits made.

The power plant, Karahnjúkavirkjun, is the largest hydroelectric dam in Iceland and is largely used to bring electricity to the Fjarðaál aluminium smelter. While the environmental impact of both of these features has been a storm of controversy, Karahnjúkar is still a popular site for the scale of both the dam and surrounding nature.

The Jökulsá river and canyon lead away from Karahnjúkar. This river feeds Dettifoss, Europe’s most powerful waterfall.