Explore Vatnsdalsá River, Iceland

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The Vatnsdalsá, one of the famed salmon rivers of northern Iceland, runs through the Vatnsdalur. Valley in northern Iceland The north-flowing river is 74 km (46 mi) long and fed by a number of waterfalls: Skinandi: a drop of about 10 meters. Kerarfoss: a drop of about 15 meters and about 40 meters wide. Dalfoss: a drop of about 10 meters and about 15 meters wide. Stekkjafoss: a drop of about 10 meters and about 4 meters wide. The average flow of the river Vatnsdalsá is in summertime 8.500 liters/sec (8.5 m3/sec), which is quite impressive. On the western side of the Vatnsdalur valley is the Kattarauga (lit. 'Cat's Eye'), an approximately 15 m (49 ft) deep pond fed by a natural spring. The name is derived from the spring source at the bottom of the pond, which can be seen through the clear waters of the pond and is said to glint like a cat’s eye in favorable conditions. It has two floating 'islets' of less than 1 m2 (11 sq ft) each, which drift in the wind. Kattarauga was designated as an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Category III protected area in 1975, acknowledging it as a natural monument of unique value worthy of specific protections.

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