Waterfall in Tungudalur

Isafjordur, Westfjords (Vestfirðir), Iceland

About Waterfall in Tungudalur


Hiking Distance: almost roadside
Suggested Time:

Date first visited: 2007-06-24
Date last visited: 2007-06-24

Waterfall Latitude: 66.06105
Waterfall Longitude: -23.20542

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

The waterfall in Tungudalur had an attractive cascade flanked by large fields of purple wildflowers and bush.

Given how conspicuous it was, I was surprised at how it didn’t seem to have any formal name to it.

Tungudalur_007_06242007 - The Waterfall in Tungudalur
The Waterfall in Tungudalur

In any case, we thought this was a worthwhile attraction especially considering it was very close to the surprisingly busy town of Ísafjörður (the main town as well as perhaps the only town of any significant size in the Westfjords).

There was some infrastructure in the form of signage, trails, and a car park, indicating that this was a fairly well-touristed spot in the Ísafjörður vicinity.

We did a couple of short walks to get different views of the falls, including a trail that climbed alongside the steep stream so we could get a closer look at the falls (where it looked like there were some small trees flanking the main drop of the falls itself).

However, it seemed like the higher up the hill we went, the less of the waterfall (including the cascades above it) that we were able to see.

We saw other people go even higher up the waterfall possibly yielding more views, but we didn’t go beyond the waterfall so we couldn’t say much more about that.

Rare Tree Sightings in Tungudalur

Speaking of trees, when we were walking along the valley of Tungudalur, we noticed that the trail kept going deeper into the valley beyond the waterfall’s stream itself.

Tungudalur_035_06242007 - Purple wildflowers abundantly blooming before the Waterfall in Tungudalur, but notice the trees growing around the waterfall itself
Purple wildflowers abundantly blooming before the Waterfall in Tungudalur, but notice the trees growing around the waterfall itself

The trail seemed to go into a forest (skógur), which was confirmed by a signpost indicating Tunguskógur, which would mean here was another place in the country where a grove of trees could be found.

Trees were something that we found to be rarely seen in Iceland given much of it was de-forested after the Vikings first arrived.

Since we didn’t venture very far beyond the waterfall and onto this trail, we can’t say more about what was beyond.

Authorities

The Waterfall in Tungudalur resides in the Westfjords near Ísafjörður, Iceland. It is administered by the municipality of Ísafjarðarbær. For information or inquiries about the general area as well as current conditions, you may want to try visiting their website.

Westfjords_052_06242007 - When we were about to enter the tunnel leading to Ísafjörður, we got this nice view towards some fjords in the distance
Westfjords_015_jx_06242007 - When we left the tunnel, we noticed this tall cascade spilling into Tungudalur
Westfjords_016_jx_06242007 - More direct look at that cascade we noticed spilling into Tungudalur shortly after we left the road tunnel
Westfjords_017_jx_06242007 - Here was another cascade spilling into Tungudalur after we left the tunnel
Tungudalur_004_06242007 - Looking straight up at the Tungudalur waterfall
Tungudalur_017_06242007 - Angled and more closeup look at the Tungudalur waterfall
Tungudalur_025_06242007 - Looking downstream from the Tungudalur Waterfall as the see glimpses of the valley itself as well as part of fjord
Tungudalur_029_06242007 - Part of the trail around the Waterfall in Tungudalur
Tungudalur_030_06242007 - Looking towards some kind of farm or settlement further up towards the head of Tungudalur Valley
Tungudalur_031_06242007 - Looking towards some farm in Tungudalur along with another cascade in the distance
Tungudalur_036_06242007 - The trail continuing deeper into Tungudalur.  Notice the grove of trees in the distance behind the sign indicating it was leading to perhaps that forest
Tungudalur_038_06242007 - Contextual look towards a pair of cascades around the head of Tungudalur


We got to the Waterfall in Tungudalur from Ísafjörður by going 3km west of town on Route 61 to the turnoff for Tungudalur.

From there, we continued on the spur road to a car park area where there was already view of the falls as well as some walking tracks getting closer to it.

Tungudalur_032_06242007 - Looking down in the direction of the fjord towards the Tungudalur car park from the trail getting closer to the waterfall
Looking down in the direction of the fjord towards the Tungudalur car park from the trail getting closer to the waterfall

Coming from the other direction from the tunnel entering Ísafjörður, the tunnel opened up into Tungudalur valley.

Once the route 60 joined with the route 631, turn left onto route 631 then drive a short distance until you see the signposted turnoff for Tungudalur.

Turn left onto the access road leading to car park.

Just to give you an idea of the context of Ísafjörður versus the major towns of Iceland, this town was 569km (over 6.5 hours drive) west of Akureyri and 445km (about 5.5 hours drive) north of Reykjavik.

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Angled view of the falls


Fixated direct view of the falls

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Tagged with: tungudalur, isafjordur, tunguskogur, forest, iceland, waterfall, westfjords, vestfirdir, camping



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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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