Bæjargil at Húsafell: Waterfall Gorge, Birch Forest and Stone Art

Most people treat Húsafell as a fuel-and-coffee stop on the way to Langjökull glacier tours. That undersells it. Behind the settlement, the Bæjargil gorge holds a waterfall walk, a rare stretch of woodland, and a scatter of carved stone faces by a sculptor who was born here. It is a self-guided half-day, and the walking itself is free.

Walking Bæjargil to the waterfall viewpoint

The Bæjargil trail starts near Hotel Húsafell and the old farm and church area; there is a large information sign below the hotel. The path runs up both sides of the gorge to a scenic viewpoint with a trail register. It is clearly worn and marked in sections, but not a stroll: expect steep pitches and several large rocks to clamber over on the way in. Reckon on roughly two hours round trip for the shorter loop, longer if you continue toward Bæjarfell above it. The full circuit is about 6.4 km with around 450 m of climbing, so it earns the name “moderately challenging.”

Trees, and the stone faces along the way

Húsafellsskógur is a birch wood, and a real one — among the oldest cultivated forests in Iceland, sheltered in the highland shadow of Eiríksjökull. Woodland is scarce in this country, so an hour among actual trees is part of the appeal. Dotted through the settlement and along the gorge are stone faces carved by Páll Guðmundsson (born 1959), who is from Húsafell and still lives here. He cuts faces into rocks he finds locally, leaving as much of the original stone intact as he can. Watching for the next one turns the walk into a hunt.

The Húsafell Stone at the old sheep pen

Near the old farmstead sits the Kvíahella, or “pen slab” — the Húsafell lifting stone, a basalt block of about 186 kg placed at the entrance of a rock-walled sheep pen built by Reverend Snorri Björnsson in the 18th century. Locals used it to test their strength by carrying it around the pen, and it later turned up at the World’s Strongest Man competition. You do not have to lift it. Most visitors just read the sign and take a photo.

• Getting there: from The Hvítá Inn, drive up Borgarfjörður on road 518, which ends at Húsafell — about 35 minutes.
• Duration: allow roughly 2 hours for the core Bæjargil walk, or a relaxed half-day with the forest and stone art.
• What to bring: proper hiking shoes with grip (there is rock-scrambling and loose scree), a windproof layer, and water; the upper gorge can be wet underfoot.
• When to go: May to September is the practical season, when the path is clear of snow; go early on a still day to beat both wind and the glacier-tour crowds.

Where to Stay

Base yourself at The Hvítá Inn, a countryside inn on the bank of the Hvítá river at Hvítárbakki. It sits at the mouth of the same Borgarfjörður valley that road 518 climbs toward Húsafell, so Bæjargil is an easy morning out and you are back by the river before dinner — no long haul from Reykjavík at either end of the day. Rooms have private bathrooms. Book direct on Ourhotels.is for the best rate.

Photo: Aconcagua via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.