Kornsa Waterfalls

Blonduos / Vatnsdalur, Northwest Region (Norðurland vestra), Iceland

About Kornsa Waterfalls

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Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

The Kornsa Waterfalls (or more accurately, the Kornsá Waterfalls; “KORN-sahw”) were situated in a steep side canyon that joined up with the west side of the Vatnsdalur Valley near the Undirfell Church.

During our visit to this series of waterfalls, I managed to count at least seven distinct waterfalls (some with multiple tiers).

Kornsa_059_08162021 - One of the waterfalls on the Kornsá
One of the waterfalls on the Kornsá

It turned out that the canyon on the Kornsá Stream was another recommendation made to me by the hosts at the Hof í Vatnsdal Guesthouse.

In particular, Jón made the suggestion as another alternative to doing the very involved Skinandi hike in Forsædalur (we had done the hike to Stekkjarfoss and Dalsfoss earlier).

This adventure didn’t seem to have a deterministic end or turnaround point, but in using the contour lines of my Topo Map app, I ultimately turned back after the 6th and 7th waterfalls.

That said, it looked like we could have gone higher up the plateau beyond the Kornsá Farm’s upper boundary fence, which kind of reinforced that notion of this adventure not having a definitive endpoint.

Kornsa_096_08162021 - This was the last of the waterfalls that we saw on the Kornsá Stream at the upper boundary of the farm's property just as the canyon appeared to be flattening out for quite a while. Thus, I thought this made for a good turnaround point of the hike
This was the last of the waterfalls that we saw on the Kornsá Stream at the upper boundary of the farm’s property just as the canyon appeared to be flattening out for quite a while. Thus, I thought this made for a good turnaround point of the hike

According to my GPS logs, we hiked as far as about 2.4km from the start of the hike, but it was all uphill and the trail was ill-defined the higher up we went.

In any case, this locals adventure ended up taking my Mom and I two hours to visit all the waterfalls and come back to the car.

We definitely had to do a little route-finding and figuring things out given that the hike traversed through the property of the Kornsá Farm.

However, such inconveniences ensured that we were pretty much able to enjoy solitude in addition to expansive views across the Vatnsdalur Valley below us.

Our Kornsá Experience

Kornsa_010_08162021 - It took some time before Mom and I finally figured out how we were supposed to get past a fence leading to the trail following the northern side of the Kornsá Stream and Canyon
It took some time before Mom and I finally figured out how we were supposed to get past a fence leading to the trail following the northern side of the Kornsá Stream and Canyon

From a pullout by the Road 722 just north of the bridge over the Kornsá Stream (see directions below), we first had to figure out how to get past a fence blocking our ability to go on the trail behind it.

It turned out that all we needed to do was to lift a rope loop (there was some tension we had to overcome) in order to open the fence enough for us to get through.

Then, to ensure the sheep or other livestock doesn’t escape, we put the loop back on the fence to “close” it.

From there, we followed an obvious trail that skirted alongside the Kornsá Stream for the first 400m before ascending to the next fence where we had to lift another loop with tension on it.

Kornsa_024_08162021 - Context of the first of the Kornsá Waterfalls as we were about to climb onto the canyon's north rim
Context of the first of the Kornsá Waterfalls as we were about to climb onto the canyon’s north rim

Along the way, we spotted the first of the Kornsá Waterfalls, where I noticed a thin trail-of-use leading to its plunge pool that I’d imagine some locals might use as a swimming hole on a hot day.

Beyond the second fence, there was another thin detour to the left alongside the fence leading 100m to a narrow ridge yielding a view of the second of the Kornsá Waterfalls.

About 200m up a noticeable use-trail on a steep hill beyond the second fence, we started to notice a third waterfall deep in the canyon below.

This waterfall was actually a pair of successive drops where the Kornsá twisted in between the drops, and I found it to be the most attractive of the bunch we had seen to this point.

Kornsa_043_08162021 - The Kornsá Canyon adventure climbed so high that we managed to get commanding views across the idyllic Vatnsdalur Valley and the Undirfell Church shown in this photo
The Kornsá Canyon adventure climbed so high that we managed to get commanding views across the idyllic Vatnsdalur Valley and the Undirfell Church shown in this photo

Continuing further up the canyon’s north rim for about 100m, we then started to see the fourth of the Kornsá Waterfalls, which was more of a sloping cascade.

The adventure continued as we would climb up the canyon another 100m before catching a glimpse of a distant waterfall, which I’m calling the fifth waterfall.

Beyond the fifth waterfall, we found a more inland tractor trail as the use-trails closer to the cliff seemed to have disappeared or became a moss trample, which was a bit suss.

During this stretch, the canyon seemed to have gone through a flattening out stretch where there didn’t seem to be legitimate waterfalls and the contour lines on my Topo map seemed to have confirmed what I was seeing.

Kornsa_113_08162021 - Direct look at the hidden sixth waterfall, which was certainly one of the taller ones in the series of waterfalls we saw on the Kornsá Stream
Direct look at the hidden sixth waterfall, which was certainly one of the taller ones in the series of waterfalls we saw on the Kornsá Stream

However, at around 500m beyond the fifth waterfall sighting, I noticed a deviation from the tractor trail, where a faint path veered left towards the canyon again.

As I approached the canyon rim, I noticed further upstream was a wide, cascading waterfall in the distance, but the contour lines on my Topo map suggested that there was a larger waterfall further downstream.

Sure enough, after perhaps another 100m of scrambling downstream, I finally witnessed perhaps the last of the big waterfalls on Kornsá, which also fell in two tiers.

Thus, this large waterfall and the cascading one further upstream represented the sixth and seventh waterfalls that I noticed.

Kornsa_149_08162021 - During our adventure in Kornsá, I managed to miss this waterfall, which was supposed to be the second one, so I made sure not to miss out on it on the way back down
During our adventure in Kornsá, I managed to miss this waterfall, which was supposed to be the second one, so I made sure not to miss out on it on the way back down

I had noticed that there was fencing near the brink of the seventh waterfall, which I’d imagine marked the upper boundary of the Kornsá Farm.

Even though the trail kept going beyond the fencing, the contour lines on my GPS topo app suggested that the next significant drop wouldn’t be for quite a while (perhaps another 2.5-3km further).

Given that the terrain really opened up and flattened out after the seventh waterfall, I thought this was a suitable turnaround spot.

Thus, we got to look forward to the all-downhill return hike to regain the car while also getting another look at the waterfalls we had missed on the way up.

Authorities

The Kornsá Waterfalls reside in the Northwest Region near Blönduós, Iceland. It is administered by the municipality of Húnavatnshreppur. For information or inquiries about the general area as well as current conditions, you may want to try visiting their website.

Maps and Routing Content are for annual subscribers. See Membership Options.
Content is for subscribers. See Membership Options.
Tagged with: kornsa, vatnsdalur, waterfalls, undirfell, northwest, blonduos



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Kornsa Waterfall January 14, 2023 9:38 am by Michael Sørensen - Maybe a bit off topic, but during one of my visits to Iceland October 2022 I took a detour from the ring road to explore the Vatnsdalur valley where I a.o. passed mentioned waterfall. An interesting story behind the Kornsa estate, is that a major part of the book "Burial rites" by Australian author Hannah… ...Read More

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Johnny Cheng

About Johnny Cheng

Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
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