Dettifoss: east bank or west bank?

Go to the west bank. It’s paved all the way, it’s the side that’s kept open in winter, and it’s the only side where you can walk on to Selfoss. The east bank is closer to the water and quieter, and on a summer day with a car it’s the better view. But it’s a gravel road that closes for the winter, and most tours don’t use it.

Two sides, no bridge

Dettifoss drops about 45 metres into the canyon of Jökulsá á Fjöllum, the glacial river that runs north from Vatnajökull. The river is the boundary. The west bank is reached on Road 862, the east bank on Road 864, and there is no crossing near the falls. To switch sides you drive back to the Ring Road bridge or round by the coast, which is well over an hour either way. So you choose once.

The west bank, Road 862

Road 862 turns north off Road 1 a little east of the Mývatn area and is paved to the falls. There’s a large car park, toilets, and a walk of roughly 15 minutes over rocky ground to the edge. You see Dettifoss from the side and slightly above, with the spray blowing across you if the wind is from the east. Wear a waterproof.

The reason to prefer it is Selfoss. From the Dettifoss viewpoint a marked path runs upstream to Selfoss, a lower, wider fall that spills over a long curved edge. It’s around 1 km and another 15 to 20 minutes each way. Selfoss is best seen from this side, and it’s the half of the visit people remember as calm.

The east bank, Road 864

Road 864 is gravel, slower, and usually closed from late autumn until the snow is off in late spring or early summer. The dates move with the weather, so check umferdin.is before you plan on it. The walk from the car park is shorter and you stand more squarely facing the fall, lower and closer. On a good day it’s the more physical view. A short drive north on the same road is the viewpoint over Hafragilsfoss, the next fall downstream, which most visitors never see.

Facilities are thinner than on the west side, and the road is hard on a small rental car. Fine for a careful driver in summer. Not somewhere to be in a storm.

Winter access

In winter only the west bank is realistic. Road 862 is serviced, but not every day, and it closes in bad weather. The paths at the falls ice over and are not always cleared. Microspikes help. So does going with someone who drives it every week.

There is one winter way to the east bank. Geo Travel’s Dettifoss superjeep tour, from €291, is five hours from Lake Mývatn in a modified jeep and aims for the east bank, with Selfoss and Hafragilsfoss. They say plainly that if the weather is wrong they switch to the west bank. We list it from late January to March.

Tours from Akureyri and Mývatn

From Akureyri, Dettifoss is a long day. Roughly two hours each way before any stops, so every tour that includes it runs eight hours or more.

• Star Travel’s Lake Mývatn, Goðafoss and powerful Dettifoss, from €239, eight hours in a minibus: Goðafoss, Námaskarð, Dettifoss, then Dimmuborgir and the pseudocraters on the way home. Runs all year.
• Imagine Iceland’s 4x4 Premium Combo, from €328, eight and a half hours. Adds Selfoss, and Hafragilsfoss when timing allows. Nature Baths entry is not included.

If you’re already sleeping at the lake, the day is easier. Imagine Iceland’s Lake Mývatn and Dettifoss (from Lake Mývatn), from €291, is six hours with Dettifoss and Selfoss, and can drop you in Akureyri afterwards.

From a ship in Húsavík, BusTravel Iceland’s Dettifoss, Ásbyrgi and Lake Mývatn shore excursion, from €182, is five and a half hours with a sandwich. It’s short for this much ground. Expect brief stops.

If you want the whole loop with Ásbyrgi and Húsavík, that’s a different question, and our Diamond Circle guide covers it.

Our honest take

With a car in summer, do the east bank. The gravel is slow but manageable, the view is closer, and Hafragilsfoss is a bonus few people get. Everyone else: the west bank, and walk to Selfoss. Don’t try to do both sides in one day unless you enjoy driving more than looking.

Without a car, stay a night at Mývatn and take the six-hour tour from there rather than spending half of an eight-hour day on the road from Akureyri. In late winter, the super jeep is the only way to see the east side, and the weather decides whether you get it. Either bank, the fall is the same size. Dress for spray.