Hvítá ( Icelandic , "white river") is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

that begins at

Hvítárvatn Hvítárvatn (, "white river lake"; also known as Hvítárlón , "white river lagoon") is a lake in the Highlands of Iceland and the source of the glacial river Hvítá, Árnessýsla. It is located northeast of Gullfoss waterfall. Its surface i ...

glacier lake on

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

glacier in the

highlands of Iceland The Highland (Icelandic language, Icelandic: ''Hálendið)'' or The Central Highland is an area that comprises much of the interior land of Iceland. The Highland is situated above and is mostly uninhabitable. The soil is primarily volcanic as ...

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, Árnessýsla, Hvítá river in southwest Iceland. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country, and is included in "Golden Circle (Iceland), Gol ...

waterfall. Thereafter, the river flows between Biskupstungur and

Hrunamannahreppur Hrunamannahreppur (, ) is a municipality located in Iceland. Its major settlement is Flúðir. The district abuts the Highlands, so that farmers' livestock occasionally strays there. Hrunamannahreppur and other parts of southwest Iceland were ...

districts. Here, Hvítá combines with three other rivers: Tungufljót ,

Brúará The Brúará (, "bridge river") is a river of Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is cult ...

, and Stóra-Laxá , doubling the volume of the river. It proceeds to run through the flatlands near

Grímsnes Grímsnes () is a relatively small fissure vent, fissure or crater row Volcanic systems of Iceland, volcanic system located in South Iceland, located south–east of Þingvallavatn, Lake Thingvallavatn and east of the en echelon group of volcanic ...

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 Selfoss may refer to: *Selfoss (town), Iceland *UMF Selfoss, a football club based in Selfoss **Selfoss men's football **Selfoss women's football *Selfoss (waterfall), Iceland *Selfoss Airport Selfoss Airport is an airport serving Selfoss, a to ...

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, Árnessýsla, Hvítá and Sog River, Sog rivers, just north of the town of Selfoss (town), Selfoss, and flows for 25 km into the Atlantic Ocean. It is Ice ...

as it flows into the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. 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 barre ...

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