Rettarfoss

Rettarfoss (more accurately Réttarfoss; pronounced "RIEH-tar-foss") was the last of the major waterfalls on the glacial river Jökulsá á Fjöllum that we saw as it was the further downstream in the series. Unlike the previous waterfalls, we were only able to see this waterfall from the west bank and from a distance. There wasn't even any official overlooks, trails, nor even signage pointing this waterfall out. Talk about not getting any love!

I basically knew about this waterfall from looking at the maps. But in the field, I had to stay on the lookout for it as I walked from the car park for Hólmatungur, then made a right turn at a fork on the trail, which climbed uphill as it headed towards Dettifoss. Once I was at the top of the climb, that was when I had to look in the direction of the river very closely for the falls.

What tipped me off was the presence of a faint rainbow and what looked like disappearing water in the river. As you can see from the photos on this page, I wish I had a telephoto lens, but even then, the viewing angle was not very good.

Directions: As far as I was concerned, viewing this waterfall involved parking the car at the same car park as that of Holmafossar so see that page for driving directions.

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Not easy to pick out Rettarfoss let alone get a good view of it

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TRIP REPORTS

• June 28, 2007

GUIDEBOOKS / OTHER RESOURCES

NEARBY WATERFALLS

• Dettifoss
• Selfoss
• Hafragilsfoss
• Urriðafoss
• Holmafossar

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