How to Visit Gufufoss Waterfall
With a view like that, it's no wonder Gufufoss ended up being one of our favorite waterfalls in the East Fjords.
Gufufoss, sometimes just called Gufu Waterfall, was one of the hidden gems we found in the East Fjords. Here's how our visit went!
On our way through the East Fjords, we had Gufufoss in our itinerary as one of those places we'd most likely just see through the window of our car. After leaving Ring Road behind, we knew it would be on the way from Egilsstaðir to Seyðisfjörður, but we really thought it would be just one of the many waterfalls we'd pass without stopping. We were wrong. Gufufoss was too gorgeous to miss.
As we began descending to Seyðisfjörður, we didn't know where to look first. Okay, mostly Lucie because I had to keep my eyes on the winding road at all times. By this point, we'd been driving along Road 93 for almost an hour (with stops!) and still couldn't get over how beautiful this area was.
The scenery around Gufufoss was just breathtaking.
As we made our way toward the town, the views were just incredible. And then Lucie spotted Gufufoss on her side. Right after, she exclaimed that we should stop there. It was a great idea. There was just one little problem. I missed the parking lot!
Getting to Gufufoss
As I said, we were on Road 93, descending to Seyðisfjörður. The waterfall was on our right-hand side, and I was expecting a bigger parking lot, but it was just an unmarked pull-off. What confused me wasn't just how inconspicuous it looked but also the fact that no car was parked there when we passed by.
On the final descent to Seyðisfjörður, Gufufoss was on our right, but we still managed to miss it the first time.
By the time I realized that, it was too late to safely pull over, which I nonchalantly glossed over by saying, "I guess that was the parking!" The tiny issue was that there was no safe place to turn the car around, so we decided to simply continue driving, explore the Seyðisfjörður first, and then come back since we had to return to Egilsstaðir anyway.
From Seyðisfjörður, Gufufoss was just over three kilometers, while Egilsstaðir was almost 30 kilometers farther. The entire Road 93 was paved and, in summer, really easy to drive on with our 2WD campervan.
Parking at Gufufoss
After we were done sightseeing the beautiful Seyðisfjörður, we headed back to Gufufoss. This time, my job was much easier since I knew exactly where the parking lot was (here are the GPS coordinates: 65.24080, -14.05292). As we drove back, it was on my left. With the dashed white line, we could safely pull over there. Again, it was empty.
Parking at Gufufoss was basically just a tiny roadside pull‑off.
It was really small, and I don't think it would fit more than, let's say, eight cars (and that's if everyone parked nicely). The good part was that parking at Gufufoss was at least free. And unlike lots of parking that used to be free and aren't anymore (Geysir, Dyrhólaey, etc.), I guess this one will stay that way unless they replace the pull-off with a much bigger lot.
Walking the Gufufoss Trail
Like with so many waterfalls we'd visited so far, the walk to Gufufoss was short and easy. The trail from the parking lot was no more than 150 meters long, and since it was completely flat, it took us just a minute or two to reach its end.
The weather was great, it was sunny, and since it wasn't windy up here, it almost felt warm (at least compared to previous days when we visited Jökulsárlón or hiked in Skaftafell). At least at that moment. Because of that, we left all our rain gear in the car, and Lucie even took off her windproof rain jacket.
Because we weren't hiking from Seyðisfjörður, the trail from the parking to Gufufoss was pretty short.
Normally, that wouldn't be the smartest idea since most waterfalls we'd seen up to this point produced a lot of spray (Seljalandsfoss and Kvernufoss were great examples of that). Gufufoss did the same, but we could view it only from a safe distance, so that was one less thing to worry about.
After those roughly two minutes of walking, the trail abruptly ended. From there, the dirt path turned into a rocky shore. There was no point in getting closer because the waterfall was stunning even from here.
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The trail stopped right around here, but Gufufoss was still incredible, even from a bit farther away.
Like at Skógafoss, we were face to face with Gufufoss. The view of the 27‑meter‑high waterfall towering ahead of us was incredible. And I'm not sure whether it was because it had rained for a day and a half or simply because we were there at the beginning of summer, but the Fjarðará River feeding Gufufoss had a lot of water, making the waterfall look quite powerful.
The best part was that there was no one around. We just stood there in silence, enjoying the moment. For us, coming from Czechia, where this would easily be the most beautiful waterfall in the whole country, it was still hard to grasp that such a gorgeous place could be completely without crowds.
But Iceland was different. We'd already visited a few similar spots, not necessarily waterfalls, that were incredibly beautiful and totally empty.
There was a whole lot of water coming down Gufufoss!
But we'd already learned that lesson ourselves. There were so many amazing waterfalls like this one, and we only had time to see mostly the big ones like Gullfoss or Dettifoss (the same went for hot springs or black sand beaches). So each time we made time for one of these little gems, we knew we had to come back to Iceland one day (hopefully in winter to see the Northern Lights).
We loved Gufufoss. The only thing we kind of wished was that we'd had more time and could walk to the waterfall from Seyðisfjörður. There were a couple of hiking trails leading there from the village, but we simply didn't have time.
The trail along Fjarðará had a lot more cascades, though we could spot a few right from the car.
Sure, these trails basically followed not far from the main road, which took away that remote feeling we had on Glymur or Reykjadalur hikes, but we figured that early in the morning this road wouldn't be very busy anyway.
And from what I've heard, a new paved trail now runs from Seyðisfjörður to Gufufoss, so you can get to the waterfall by bike too, not just on foot. I'm guessing this trail was built not just for locals but also for cruise visitors arriving in Seyðisfjörður who want to reach Gufufoss straight from the port.
The reason I mentioned that we'd like to see Gufufoss in the morning was that from up here we could also enjoy the sunrise over the whole Seyðisfjörður fjord. And the soft morning light would be hitting the waterfall.
We were there in the afternoon, during the summer, when the sun was still quite high, so we didn't have to deal with backlight like at Dynjandi, but honestly none of that really mattered. The scenery was dramatic at any time of day.
We lucked out and visited Gufufoss on a beautiful sunny day.
While we enjoyed our time in Seyðisfjörður, staying in this town simply didn't fit our plans. Which was a bit of a shame, since the town, besides its beautiful setting in a dramatic fjord, also had a nice campground (we did a lot of camping in Iceland, so that would've worked for us) and some smaller accommodations like Hotel Snæfell or Hafaldan HI Hostel.
But as I said, we still had a long day ahead of us and had to keep moving, not to mention that we really wanted to make the most of the great weather that had finally reached the East Fjords (and especially after those rainy days on the South Coast).
Is Gufufoss Worth Seeing?
As we drove toward Seyðisfjörður, we could see Gufufoss from the main road anyway, so the real question was whether it was worth stopping. For us, it absolutely was. We had great weather, an empty trail, and one big, beautiful, powerful waterfall. It simply worked for us right then.
Gufufoss was beautiful and totally worth a quick stop.
In the end, we spent around 20 minutes at Gufufoss, making it one of those quick stops we repeated countless times during our Iceland trip. Another bonus was that Gufufoss had no entry fee, and the parking was free too. We tried to keep our budget low, and this was definitely one way to do it.
After we finished here, we were ready to travel back to Egilsstaðir. At that point, we weren't really interested in the town except to get gas. Before ultimately heading to Borgarfjörður eystri, we still had one little hike planned. It was to see Litlanesfoss and Hengifoss, which were both, unsurprisingly, waterfalls.
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Explore one of Iceland's lesser‑visited waterfalls with our guide to Gufufoss in the East Fjords. Learn what to expect, where to park, how to get there from Seyðisfjörður, when to visit, and tips for hiking the short trail.