Until recently, Brúarfoss waterfall on the Golden Circle was little known among others than locals in South Iceland. Its growing popularity with tourists has meant that the unmarked walking path to the waterfall has turned into slush. A local describes conditions by the waterfall as being dangerous.
Brúarfoss is so small it's not included on maps, and there are no roads leading to the waterfall. Instead visitors must drive into a holiday home area owned and operated by several labor unions, and then walk along unmarked walking paths through a low growing birch forest.
Read more: Walking paths at a once hidden waterfall on Golden Circle can't handle traffic after its discovery
Local man Þröstur Freyr Gylfason told the National Broadcasting Service RÚV that conditions by Brúarfoss waterfall are dangerous after he visited the site last weekend. He saw tourists sitting by the edge close to the waterfall, dangling their feet off it, perilously close to the cold water below. There are no guard rails, no walking paths and no service for tourists by the waterfall.
The only way there will be on foot
The Environment Agency of Iceland told RÚV that the area around Brúarfoss is not conserved by law and that the land around it is privately owned. The area therefore does not fall under the agency's jurisdiction. The landowner received a grant to lay walking paths to the waterfall. He says work on the paths will start in June and that it should be finished before the autumn.
It's crazy as it is now, there's a steady flow of people there but that will end now, the landowner Rúnar Gunnarsson told RÚV. One side of the waterfall has already been closed to cars. The other side will be closed with a gate for the holiday home area this summer. When the walking paths will be in place, the only way to reach Brúarfoss waterfall will be by foot from a parking lot by the main road, around three and a half kilometers each way.
Until recently, Brúarfoss waterfall on the Golden Circle was little known among others than locals in South Iceland. Its growing popularity with tourists has meant that the unmarked walking path to the waterfall has turned into slush. A local describes conditions by the waterfall as being dangerous.
Brúarfoss is so small it's not included on maps, and there are no roads leading to the waterfall. Instead visitors must drive into a holiday home area owned and operated by several labor unions, and then walk along unmarked walking paths through a low growing birch forest.
Read more: Walking paths at a once hidden waterfall on Golden Circle can't handle traffic after its discovery
Local man Þröstur Freyr Gylfason told the National Broadcasting Service RÚV that conditions by Brúarfoss waterfall are dangerous after he visited the site last weekend. He saw tourists sitting by the edge close to the waterfall, dangling their feet off it, perilously close to the cold water below. There are no guard rails, no walking paths and no service for tourists by the waterfall.
The only way there will be on foot
The Environment Agency of Iceland told RÚV that the area around Brúarfoss is not conserved by law and that the land around it is privately owned. The area therefore does not fall under the agency's jurisdiction. The landowner received a grant to lay walking paths to the waterfall. He says work on the paths will start in June and that it should be finished before the autumn.
It's crazy as it is now, there's a steady flow of people there but that will end now, the landowner Rúnar Gunnarsson told RÚV. One side of the waterfall has already been closed to cars. The other side will be closed with a gate for the holiday home area this summer. When the walking paths will be in place, the only way to reach Brúarfoss waterfall will be by foot from a parking lot by the main road, around three and a half kilometers each way.
