Golden Waterfall

Gullfoss

Not every tourist who visits Iceland has the time to take a road trip around the entire country - So, for those with limited time, the Golden Circle day trip is one of the best solutions for an excursion out of Reykjavík offering visitors a sampling of the beauty of Iceland’s natural environment.

There are a number of options for travellers to tour the Golden Circle, so whether your rent a car, hire a taxi, or get yourself a spot on a tour bus, you’ll easily be able to see all of the beautiful sights that the Golden Circle has to offer in a day.

After visiting the beautiful Öxaráfoss waterfall in Iceland’s iconic and historic Þingvellir National Park and stopping by Geysir Geothermal Park to see the spectacular Strokkur geyser it’s time to move on to to what is likely to be the highlight of your day - The iconic “Golden Waterfall.” 

Gullfoss

The majestic Gullfoss waterfall, located in southwest Iceland’s Hvítá River Canyon, is one of the largest and most powerful waterfalls in Iceland.

The water from the river originates high above from the Langjökull Glacier and is said to surge an estimated 140 cubic meters over the waterfall every second.

The total height of Gullfoss is 32 meters and is generally measured in two different stages:

  1. The first stage is a shorter cascade waterfall that is about 11 meters (36 feet) in height.

  2. The second stage is about 21 meters (69 feet) in height.

Likewise, the width of the waterfall is divided into two stages:

  1. The upper left side of the waterfall stretches to around 243 meters (800 feet) at its crest.

  2. The lower right side portion of the falls is half that size at 120 meters (400 feet).

There is an interesting bit of history related to Gullfoss which helped to spark an early environmental movement seeking to protect Iceland’s natural environment from over-development.

Gullfoss was originally the property of a man named Tómas Tómasson who was approached in the early 20th century by foreign investors seeking to harness the power of the falls to generate electricity. Tómasson was initially hesitant to sell the land but later compromised and decided to lease it out.

Tómasson‘s daughter, a woman named Sigriður Tómasdóttir vigorously opposed the usage of the waterfall for this sort of development, which she believed would cause irreparable damage to Gullfoss.

Using her savings to hire a lawyer in the capital, she spent several years engaged in a lawsuit with the investors attempting to prevent them from ruining the waterfall. Even though she would fail in her legal attempts to save the land, the original lease expired before any construction took place. 

In 1940, the waterfall was acquired from Tómasson by Sigriður‘s adopted son who later sold it to the Icelandic government which in turn designated the area as a protected nature reserve.

Sigriður’s struggle to preserve the waterfall inspired the people of Iceland to take the issue of protecting their country’s natural environment more seriously and the world is a better place today thanks to her efforts.

While visiting Gullfoss you’ll find a small monument in honour of her efforts.

Photography

The biggest obstacle to taking photos of the waterfall (and this applies to most of the waterfalls in Iceland) is that if you’re too close both you and your camera are going to get wet thanks to the mist that constantly engulfs the surrounding area.

Photographers should be prepared to protect your camera and lenses from the spray, especially if you are planning on taking long exposure photos.

There are various view-points set up around waterfall for people to take photos as well as a well-developed and (more importantly) safe walking trail that allows people to get as close to the falls as possible. 

Most of the shots that you will have seen of the waterfall will have been taken from a viewpoint near the lower parking lot with the use of a telephoto lens. This area is where you can get the widest view of the falls and are also safest from the mist. 

If you prefer to get closer to the falls, there is a walking trail that will bring you next to the top cascade where both you and your camera will undoubtedly get a bit wet. The experience of being so close to such a powerful force of nature though is highly worth the walk.

Depending on the time of the year you visit, the mist may not be the only factor that makes taking photos of the waterfall difficult - During the high season for tourists, you are likely going to have to contend with having a bunch of people in your beautiful landscape shots.

As one of the most popular tourist destinations in Iceland, you may have to put up with sharing the waterfall with hundreds of other people. One of the best ways to combat this issue is to time your visit for very early or very late in the day.

Getting There

 

If you are following the popular Golden Circle route, Gullfoss is about a two-hour drive from the capital of Reykjavik. As mentioned above, most tourists will first stop at Öxaráfoss and then visit the Geysir Geothermal Park before arriving at Gullfoss. The waterfall is a 14km drive from Geysir and there are several signs along the route that point tourists in the right direction. 

There are two parking lots (free of charge) for visitors to Gullfoss - The lower parking lot is not marked by a road sign and won’t show up on your GPS, but it is probably the best place to park your car.

The upper parking lot is next to a restaurant / cafe that serves a wide variety of Icelandic fare as well as having a gift shop where you can purchase some souvenirs.

After visiting Gullfoss, many people will continue on to one of the areas many hot springs, Faxi waterfall or Crater Kerið before heading back for the day.

If you’ve decided that you won’t bother renting a car while visiting Iceland, you’re going to have to rely on public transportation to get to the waterfall. There are tours out of the capital offered by tour groups like Reykjavik Excursions which offer tourists access to several different stops for around $100USD. It is important to remember that if you want to book a tour that you should do so well in advance as the seats on the daily tours tend to fill up quickly.

As one of the most iconic waterfalls in Iceland (as well as the whole of Europe) Gullfoss is an extremely busy tourist destination for anyone visiting Iceland. The waterfall is certainly one of the most beautiful that you’ll ever see and will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of your trip to Iceland. 


Golden Waterfall (黃金瀑布)

The Golden Waterfall (黃金瀑布) is a really cool waterfall near the popular tourist village Jiufen (九份) and the Gold Ecological Park (黃金博物館.) 

The waterfall isn't very big, but it is quite attractive ecologically speaking and if you follow the river downstream it ultimately runs off into the ocean in an area popularly known as the Yin-Yang Sea (陰陽海) 

The North East Coast of Taiwan is a beautiful drive with the Pacific Ocean on one side of the road and mountains rising high above on the other. The area near the Golden Waterfall is known as Jinguashi (金瓜石) and was an important area for gold mining during the Japanese occupation. Today there isn't any more gold to be found but there are some pretty cool ruins of the abandoned gold mining factory.  

For years, people thought that the Golden Waterfall and the Yin Yang Sea that the waterfall runs off into were results of rampant pollution due to the mining activity in the area. There is also a debate online within both Taiwanese and Expat circles as to whether the Golden Waterfall is actually a product of pollution and environmental degradation.

I've done a bit of research into the subject from Chinese sites and it seems that within last few decades it was discovered that this phenomenon is natural to the area and it has been this way for thousands of years – long before mining started. Although I wouldn't go so far to say that the pollution caused by the mining hasn't had disastrous effects on the environment nor would I go as far to drink the water.  

The soil in the area is sulphurous which gives the soil the red-like colour that you see in the photos. The colour of the soil and the green mountains behind it give the waterfall it's golden colour and thus its name. The amount of water flowing from the falls varies based on recent rainfall, but the area receives quite a bit of rain, so you're not likely to see a dried up waterfall if you decide to make a visit.

What you see today is a result of not only the sulphurous soil but also hundreds if not thousands of years of weathering and SCIENCE..

Although I'm completely open to debate on this one. 

When I first visited the waterfall years and years ago it was a lot different from what you see today. Back then you could easily climb down a small path and walk all over the place getting some really cool shots and selfies (although selfies weren't a thing at the time) of the waterfall.  

In the years since then however the New Taipei City government had to develop the area in order to protect the natural environment from being destroyed and for the safety of the loads of tour bus tourists (from a specific country) who have a tendency to attract certain types of completely-avoidable tragedies. Guard rails have been put up and there is now a viewing platform making it impossible to get too up close and personal with the waterfall. 

The waterfall is a short drive from either the North East Coast highway or a bus ride from Jiufen to Jinguashi. You don't need a lot of time to visit the waterfall, so if you plan on visiting, make sure you have a means of transportation to either take you back up to Jiufen or just walk back down to the highway and grab a bus back to Keelung. 

If you are planning a day-trip to the Gold Museum and Jiufen, make sure to include the Golden Waterfall as part of your activities. They're all relatively close and are all completely doable if you get an early enough start on the day! 


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