Hvítá ( Icelandic , "white river") is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

that begins at Hvítárvatn glacier lake on

Langjökull Langjökull (, Icelandic for "long glacier") is the second largest ice cap in Iceland (953 km2), after Vatnajökull. It is situated in the west of the Icelandic interior or Highlands of Iceland and can be seen clearly from Haukadalur. Its ...

glacier in the

highlands of Iceland The Highlands of Iceland ( is, hálendið ) are a sparsely inhabited plateau that covers most of the interior of Iceland. They are situated above 400–500 metres (1300–1600 feet) and are mostly an uninhabitable volcanic desert, because the wa ...

at . The river flows for before dropping down into a narrow gorge at

Gullfoss Gullfoss ("Golden Falls"; ) is a waterfall located in the canyon of the Hvítá river in southwest Iceland. History and description The Hvítá river flows southward, and about a kilometre above the falls it turns sharply to the west and ...

waterfall. Thereafter, the river flows between Biskupstungur and Hrunamannahreppur districts. Here, Hvítá combines with three other rivers: Tungufljót , Brúará, and Stóra-Laxá , doubling the volume of the river. It proceeds to run through the flatlands near

Grímsnes Grímsnes () is a fissure or crater row volcanic system located in South Iceland, a relatively small volcanic system located SE of Thingvallavatn lake east of an en echelon group of volcanic fields extending across the Reykjanes Peninsula. The el ...

and behind

Ingólfsfjall Ingólfsfjall () is a tuya in Iceland in the vicinity of Hveragerði. Name The name is derived from Iceland's official first settler, Ingólfur Arnarson. The Medieval Landnámabók says that he passed here his third winter in Iceland after ...

mountain. Just north of Selfoss town, it meets

Sog River Sog (; more commonly Sogið ) is a river in Iceland. It runs from the lake Þingvallavatn for to its confluence with the river Hvítá, forming the river Ölfusá which then runs for another 25 km into the Atlantic Ocean. Its average disc ...

where it becomes

Ölfusá The Ölfusá () is a river in Iceland. It begins at the junction between the Hvítá and Sog rivers, just north of the town of Selfoss, and flows for 25 km into the Atlantic ocean. It is Iceland's largest river by volume with an average ...

as it flows into the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. Because of danger of flooding, especially during winter, Hvítá has a reputation of being the most dangerous river in Iceland. Organised

raft A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is usually of basic design, characterized by the absence of a hull. Rafts are usually kept afloat by using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barrel ...

ing excursions take place on parts of the river. The river is bridged at 4 locations, thrice at the lowland and once near the source in the highland where it is only open over the summer.

See also