Iceland · East Iceland hike

Stuðlagil Canyon Hike

By Beyond the Overlook

The trail itself was ordinary. The basalt-column canyon at the end was anything but.

Firsthand guide · Last reviewed August 2026 · How we review our guides

Basalt columns and blue-green river in Stuðlagil Canyon

The short answer: Yes. The trail itself was ordinary. The basalt-column canyon at the end was anything but.

Beyond the Overlook trail snapshot

Effort4/10

TrailMostly ordinary

PayoffExceptional

Best forBasalt geology

CrowdsManageable for us

Worth it?Yes

The destination is the reason to hike

We would not sell Stuðlagil as a beautiful trail from start to finish. The walk is fairly plain. What makes it worthwhile is arriving at the canyon and suddenly seeing towering basalt columns wrapped around bright blue-green water.

Tall basalt columns lining Stuðlagil Canyon — The final canyon is what makes the otherwise ordinary approach worth doing.

Worth it? Yes. Go for the canyon, not because you expect every mile of the approach to be scenic.

Ring Road All hikes Iceland guide

Plan the right side of the canyon

Stuðlagil is one of those stops where access matters. The viewpoints from one side let you look into the canyon, while the longer approach on the east side is the option for hikers who want to get down closer to the basalt columns and river. Build in more time than a quick roadside viewpoint if getting into the canyon is the goal.

The famous blue-green water is not guaranteed to look exactly like the photos. Color and water level can change with runoff and conditions, and wet weather can make the approach slick. Good shoes are worthwhile even though this is not a technically difficult hike.

Why go: The geometry of the basalt walls is the attraction here. It feels completely different from Iceland’s waterfall stops, and getting closer to the columns makes the scale much easier to appreciate.

Our very simple Stuðlagil verdict

The hike is boring. The destination is worth it. We would not oversell the approach as a beautiful Iceland walk, but the huge basalt columns and blue-green river are distinctive enough that we were glad we went.

Why it still belongs on a Ring Road itinerary

Iceland has plenty of waterfalls and geothermal stops. Stuðlagil looks different from almost everything else on the route. That visual payoff is why we would keep it even though the walk itself was not a highlight.