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Iceland Iceland canyon rim

Eldgjá

You can see 16 km from here, looking south-west.

27Viewyas Score

Canyon rim

Calculating the panorama…

Drag to turn around. The relief is drawn 2.2 times taller so the ridges can be read; far ridges are paler, as in the real air.

The view

Up to 16 km away.

Calculated on the relief one degree at a time, up to 250 km, with the curvature of the Earth and the refraction of the air: what stands above the horizon from here.

27out of 100

Our own rating, from the relief and the climate only: open horizon (35 points), how far you see (25), sea and named peaks in view (20) and clear months (20).

  • 16 kmFarthest ridgelooking south-west
  • 78%Open horizonof the circle where the horizon is below your eyes
  • 507 mAltitudeabove the sea, at the highest point of the viewpoint

From the relief only: buildings, trees and haze are not in the model. On a hazy day you see much less; 250 km is the limit of our calculation.

The sun

The best sunsets are from November to December.

When the sun really disappears from this viewpoint — behind the relief or into the sea — and in which direction, on the 15th of each month, in local time.

  1. Jansouth172 min before the sea-level sunset24%
  2. Febsouth274 min before the sea-level sunset24%
  3. Marwest44 min before the sea-level sunset22%
  4. Aprwest66 min before the sea-level sunset22%
  5. Maynorth-west64 min before the sea-level sunset22%
  6. Junnorth-westsets on an open horizon18%
  7. Julnorth-west76 min before the sea-level sunset16%
  8. Augwest62 min before the sea-level sunset20%
  9. Sepwest56 min before the sea-level sunset20%
  10. Octsouth280 min before the sea-level sunset23%
  11. Novsouth180 min before the sea-level sunset25%
  12. Decsouth124 min before the sea-level sunset27%
  • Time: when the sun goes behind the horizon you see from here.
  • Minutes: how much earlier the relief hides the sun.
  • %: share of clear sky that month (NASA, 2001–2020).

The highlighted months are the clearest. Golden hour starts about an hour before.

The place

Eldgjá.

Volcano and a canyon in Iceland

Eldgjá is a canyon rim in Iceland, 507 m above the sea.

On a clear day the farthest ridge you can see is 16 km away, looking south-west.

The horizon is open, below your eyes, over 78% of the circle.

The skies are clearest from November to December.

Eldgjá Volcanic Canyon Iceland (176657459)
Ilya Grigorik · CC BY-SA 3.0

Get there and stay

Plan the visit

A guided tour, a bed nearby, a car.

Tours, cable cars and tickets for EldgjáGetYourGuideSee prices Stays with a view near EldgjáBooking.comSee prices Car hire at RKV airport (Reykjavík)Discover CarsSee prices 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above

The viewpoint and its surroundings.

The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the viewpoint, with what OpenStreetMap shows nearby.

Eldgjá seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Seen from above: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6 × 6 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around, in OpenStreetMap

  • 6other viewpoints within 5 kmÓfærufoss, Gígvatn and 4 more
  • 3named peaks within 5 kmHörðubreið, Ljónstindur, Gjátindur
  • 1marked trails within 3 kmSkælingar - Hólaskjól
  • 2shelters and huts within 5 kmSkælingar
  • 5car parks within 3 km
  • 1visitor centres within 5 km
  • 3campsites within 10 kmSkælingar, Hólaskjól
  • 2places to stay within 10 kmHólaskjól, Skálinn við Álftavötn
  • cable car and funicular stations within 5 km
  • restaurants and cafés within 3 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.

In our other atlases

What you see from Eldgjá, and what is near.

Everything around this viewpoint — mountains, water, forests, birds, caves and the night sky — in the family's atlases.

Peakyas25 mountains within 25 km
Uxatindar · 9.6 kmStakihnúkur792 m · 14 kmSveinstindur1,090 m · 18 kmLaki818 m · volcano · 20 kmTorfajökull1,190 m · volcano · 21 kmBláhnjúkur940 m · volcano · 22 kmVatnaöldur898 m · 22 kmMaelifell791 m · volcano · 25 km
Islandyasthe island
Iceland102,775 km²
Lakeyas2 lakes within 15 km
Sandvatn (lanaw sa Islandya, Suðurland, lat 64,04, long -18,74)0.3 km² · 10 kmGrænalón0.3 km² · 10 km
Darkskyas8 dark-sky places within 30 km
EldgjáBortle 1 · this placeTorfajökullBortle 1 · 21 kmBláhnjúkurBortle 1 · 22 kmFrostastaðavatnBortle 1 · 23 kmBrennisteinsaldaBortle 1 · 26 kmLangisjórBortle 1 · 28 kmMælifellssandurBortle 1 · 28 kmSigöldulónBortle 1 · 30 km
Canyonyas1 canyons within 20 km
Eldgjá · this placeEldgjá270 m · 3.0 km
Cascadyas1 waterfalls within 15 km
Ófærufoss · 0.5 km
Riveryasthe river nearby
Kúðafljót115 km · 230 m³/s

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap, GBIF). Links open when each site is online.

Photographs

The view, as people saw it.

Eldgja
Andreas Tille · CC BY-SA 4.0
Eldgja Fluorescent moss and dark sand 2
Borvan53 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Eldgja Waterfall of Strangakvisl river near Kvislarholmar
Borvan53 · CC BY-SA 3.0

Other viewpoints nearby.

Eldgjá

Iceland

  • 27Viewyas Score
  • 16 kmFarthest ridge
  • —Peaks in view
  • 507 mAltitude

Hekla

Iceland · 52 km

  • 81Viewyas Score
  • 180 kmFarthest ridge
  • 72Peaks in view
  • 1,470 mAltitude

See the guide

Katla

Iceland · 43 km

  • 68Viewyas Score
  • 134 kmFarthest ridge
  • 2Peaks in view
  • 1,229 mAltitude

See the guide

Hvannadalshnúkur

Iceland · 94 km

  • 84Viewyas Score
  • 207 kmFarthest ridge
  • 41Peaks in view
  • 2,076 mAltitude

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q388641) · CC0
SunJ. Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms
Peaks in viewPeakyas (Wikidata, CC0)
Panorama and altitudeCopernicus DEM GLO-90 / GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
CloudsNASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2)
What is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Sister atlasesPeakyas, Islandyas, Lakeyas, Darkskyas, Canyonyas, Cascadyas, Riveryas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit
viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.You are here
birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Visit forestsForestyasEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Visit