Almannagjá Gorge

Almannagjá is the long fault gorge that forms the western wall of the rift valley at Þingvellir National Park, the first stop on the Golden Circle. A walking path runs along its floor from the Hakið viewpoint down to the old assembly site, and it is the path almost every visitor to Þingvellir takes.

The gorge is the clearest place in Iceland to see what continental drift does to the land. One side is a sheer wall of lava; the other is lower and tilted, because the ground on that side has been sinking for thousands of years as the crust pulls apart. On our guided private Golden Circle day the Þingvellir stop includes a walk through Almannagjá with your guide.

What is Almannagjá?

Almannagjá is a normal fault, a crack where the ground on one side has dropped relative to the other, on the edge of the North American plate. It marks the western boundary of a sinking block of land about 7 km wide, with the Heiðargjá fault on the eastern side. Between them lies the whole Þingvellir valley floor, the lake shore and the old assembly plain.

The name means roughly "the gorge of all people", from almanna, "of everyone", and gjá, a fissure or rift. It fits. The higher wall of the gorge was the western limit of the assembly site, the open ground where every free man could follow the proceedings of the Alþing.

How Almannagjá was formed

Iceland sits on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the North American and Eurasian plates move apart at about 2 cm a year on average. At Þingvellir that stretching does not happen smoothly. Stress builds over decades and then releases in a burst of earthquakes and rifting, as it did in spring 1789.

Each burst lets the block between Almannagjá and Heiðargjá drop a little further. Since the lava you walk on flowed, about 10,000 years ago, the valley floor has subsided around 40 metres and widened around 70 metres. Since the Alþing first met in 930, the assembly plain has dropped by almost 4 metres.

That is why the gorge looks the way it does. The western wall is the edge of the stable side, cut straight through layer after layer of lava. The eastern wall is the edge of the block that dropped, broken and tilted towards the valley. You walk along the gap between them.

Is Almannagjá between two continents?

Almannagjá is the edge of the North American plate, but the far side of the gorge is not Europe. The plate boundary at Þingvellir is a zone roughly 5 km wide, and on its eastern side the neighbour is the Hreppar microplate rather than the Eurasian plate itself. Walking through Almannagjá puts you inside that boundary zone, which is as close as anyone gets on dry land.

For the full explanation of which plates meet where, read our guide to walking between two continents at Þingvellir.

The Almannagjá walk from Hakið

The walk starts at the Hakið visitor centre and viewing platform, at the upper end of the gorge beside the P1 car park. From the platform you can see the whole rift laid out to the east, then a wide path drops down into the gorge itself.

Once you are in, the high western wall rises on your left and the lower eastern wall on your right. The path runs north along the floor, past the flagpole at the most likely site of Lögberg, the Law Rock, and on towards the point where the river Öxará falls into the gorge at Öxarárfoss. The walk is downhill and gentle.

What to look for on the way

• The layers of lava in the western wall, each one a separate flow
• Open cracks in the lava running parallel to the path
• The flagpole on the ledge above the Hallurinn slope, which marks the traditional site of Lögberg
• The Hamraskarð pass, the break in the eastern wall that leads down to the assembly plain
• Boulders on the gorge floor that have fallen from the walls in past earthquakes

How long is the walk through Almannagjá?

From Hakið to the Lögberg flagpole is an easy 10 to 15 minutes. Continue to Öxarárfoss and the one-way walk is about 1.3 km, roughly 20 minutes at an easy pace. Most people take 45 minutes to an hour for the gorge with stops, and longer if they cross to the church and Peningagjá.

Lögberg and the assembly site below the gorge

Halfway down the gorge, the path passes the main reason people came to Þingvellir for nearly nine centuries. Lögberg, the Law Rock, was where the Law Speaker recited the laws and anyone could speak, and the park names two possible sites for it. One is the ledge where the flagpole stands today; the other is inside Almannagjá itself, against the higher wall.

Either way, the gorge was the backdrop to the whole assembly. Our page on Lögberg and the Law Speaker explains what happened there and why its exact site is lost.

Öxarárfoss, the waterfall in the gorge

At the northern end of the main walk, the river Öxará drops over the western wall into Almannagjá as Öxarárfoss. According to Sturlunga saga, the river was diverted into the gorge to bring fresh water close to the assembly. After the falls, it runs south along the gorge floor and leaves it at Drekkingarhylur, the Drowning Pool, a name that recalls the harsher punishments brought in after 1564.

A road through the gorge

For years the main road from Reykjavík to Þingvellir ran down through Almannagjá itself, with traffic driving between the walls. It was closed to motor traffic on 1 November 1967, and the gorge has been a walking route ever since. Today the walk begins at the Hakið visitor centre, beside the head of the gorge.

Almannagjá in Game of Thrones

Almannagjá was used as a filming location for Game of Thrones, standing in for the route through the mountains to the Eyrie in the Vale. Fans still walk it looking for the camera angles. Our article on the Þingvellir Game of Thrones scenes shows which shots were filmed where.

How to get to Almannagjá

Almannagjá is inside Þingvellir National Park, about 40 km north-east of Reykjavík on Route 36. Follow the signs for Hakið and park at P1, which sits at the upper end of the gorge next to the visitor centre. This is the natural starting point, because the walk runs downhill from here.

You can also start from the bottom. P5 Valhöll, near the church and Silfra, and P2 Efri-Vellir, below Öxarárfoss, both put you within a short walk of the gorge floor. Walking up from either takes a little more effort but means fewer people around you in the first few minutes.

Parking for Almannagjá

The national park charges a parking service fee at P1, P2 and P5. For a passenger car with five seats or fewer it is 1,000 ISK, and the Þingvellir parking tariff lists the rates for larger vehicles. One payment is valid at all three car parks for the rest of the day, so many people walk down the gorge and then move the car to P5 rather than climbing back up.

Best time to walk Almannagjá

The gorge is open all year, around the clock. In summer the problem is people, not weather: most coaches arrive between mid-morning and early afternoon, and the path through the narrowest part fills up. Walk it before 09:00 or after 17:00 and you will have long stretches to yourself, with low light raking across the wall.

September adds autumn colour on the valley floor. In winter, snow lines every ledge of the walls and the gorge is at its most dramatic, but the path can be icy and daylight in December lasts only about four hours. Wear boots with good grip or slip-on spikes.

In summer, a free ranger walk in English leaves the Hakið visitor centre at 14:00 and takes about an hour, covering the geology and history of the gorge and the park.

Safety in Almannagjá

The path itself is wide and well made, but the gorge is an active fault. In the earthquakes of summer 2000, centred 40 to 50 km away, stones fell from the walls. Frost loosens rock in winter too. Stay on the path, keep away from the base of the walls where there is loose material, and do not climb on the rock.

The open cracks either side of the path can be deep and are sometimes hidden by moss or snow. Keep children close, and stay on marked paths if you head out across the lava on the rim.

Things to do near Almannagjá

The gorge is the spine of a visit to Þingvellir, and everything else hangs off it. Öxarárfoss sits at its northern end, Lögberg halfway along, and the assembly plain, Peningagjá and Þingvallakirkja lie just to the east across the river. Silfra is a few minutes beyond the church.

For parking, opening hours, the visitor centre and how to fit everything into one stop, see our complete Þingvellir visitor guide.

Photographing Almannagjá

The classic shot is from the Hakið platform, looking along the line of the gorge with the valley and the lake beyond. Morning light comes from the east and lights the face of the western wall, so arrive early if you want the rock to glow rather than sit in shadow.

Inside the gorge, a wide lens shows the scale best. Put a person on the path for size, because without one the walls flatten out in photos. In winter, overcast days are kinder than bright sun, which throws one wall into deep shade.

Visiting Almannagjá with children

The main path is one of the easiest walks on the Golden Circle for families. It is wide, mostly gentle and short enough for small legs, and there is plenty to point at. The risk is the cracks in the lava either side, so hold hands near the edges and keep children off the rocks at the base of the walls.

Is Almannagjá worth it?

Yes. It is free apart from parking, it takes less than an hour, and it is the single place on the Golden Circle where the geology and the history are visible in the same view. If you only have time for one walk at Þingvellir, this is the one.

Photo: Olga Ernst, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons