There are waterfalls everywhere you look in Iceland – everywhere! Our waterfall list was long and Bruarfoss was near the top. Apparently this unique, icy blue waterfall is somewhat tricky to find and not very heavily visited. Perfect.
As soon as I saw a photo of Bruarfoss I knew we had to find it. It was a change of pace from the abundance of tall, raging Icelandic waterfalls we had been adding to our list. Plus, it was slightly out of the way, and really all the best places are.
My initial research on Bruarfoss made it seem like it was a little tricky to find, but we found our way just fine! Many of the driving directions we came across seemed to be overly complicated, and even Google Maps lead us astray. The actual roads, when we mapped directions, were slightly offset from the virtual ones. This made it confusing because the “dot” did not appear where we were actually driving.
Now that we’ve sufficiently blamed Google Maps, here are our simplified directions to get to the Bruarfoss “trailhead”: From Highway 37, turn off onto Brekkuskogur. Keep straight. You’ll reach a “Private Property” sign where the road will turn into a dirt one. Don’t turn. Keep straight until the road veers to the right. Just after this is where you should park. There are a few footpaths on the north side of the road that lead to the first access bridge. If you’re still lost… then it wouldn’t be an adventure, right?
When we parked, there was only one other car who had been driving along slightly confused with us. We sat in the car a few minutes to let the current rain shower pass and then set off. The actual “hike” (this one is so easy it’s more of a walk), although not an officially marked trail, is easy to follow. Since it rains a lot in Iceland, I imagine it’s always somewhat as muddy as it was for us.
Keep following the path until you come across a creepy glove pointing out the way. We can’t confirm if this thing is always there…
Creepy glove or not, if you veer left you are bound to run into the river and you should easily be able to spot the bridge where you can view this icy blue beauty:
When we arrived at the falls, there was another couple and another group of four people who were on their way back. The couple stayed for a good amount of time taking photos and walking down next to the falls, but once they left, we had Bruarfoss to ourselves until we headed back.
You would think from just looking at it that Bruarfoss means “Blue Waterfall” (“foss” means “waterfall” in Icelandic), but it actually translates to “bridge over waterfall.”
Bruarfoss was by far the bluest waterfall we saw in in Iceland. After some menial Googling we concluded it was so blue thanks to glacial flour, but if you’d like to enlighten us further, please do!
We wholly recommend making a stop to Bruarfoss, especially if you are self-driving the Golden Circle Tour.
