Skógafoss, Waterfall in Skógar, Iceland
Skógafoss is a waterfall on the Skógá River in southern Iceland, dropping 60 metres from a flat lip in a former sea cliff. The fall is 25 metres wide, a broad unbroken sheet of white water that breaks into mist at the base, where a faint rainbow can arc through the spray. The dark rock face is flanked on the right by a green vegetated slope.
The cliff over which the water falls once formed the coastline of Iceland, when the sea broke directly against the rock face. Over the centuries, the coast withdrew southward, leaving the waterfall about 5 kilometers inland.
The name Skógafoss means "forest waterfall", from the Skógá River and the old forest near Skógar. Legend says the first Viking settler here, Þrasi Þórólfsson, hid a chest of gold behind the falls; locals later caught only its ring before it vanished. That ring was given to the local church, and the old church door ring is now kept in the Skógar museum.
Visitors can climb 527 steps to reach an observation platform at the top, offering views over the southern coastal plain. The ascent requires sturdy footwear and some time, as the steep metal path can become slippery when wet.
When the sun shines, the dense water mist at the base produces one or sometimes two rainbows that appear directly in front of the falling water. The spray is so thick that visitors can become completely soaked within a few steps of approaching the pool.
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