Stuðlagil

Stuðlagil (also transliterated as Studlagil) is a canyon in Jökuldalur valley in the municipality of Múlaþing, in the Eastern Region of Iceland. It is known for its unusual amount of large columnar basalt rock formations and the turquoise coloured river that runs through it. The canyon also has an interesting story as it became an unexpected tourist sensation  in 2016 after Einar Páll Svavarsson published an article in August of that year on hiticeland.com  with spectacular photos. A year later Einar also wrote an article about Stuðlagil in WOW air magazine in June 2017 and after that the canyon became a popular tourist destination. In both articles Einar revealed from his research why this natural wonder gem had been hidden for so long.

In 2019 the Icelandic tourism research centre found this development so unique that it teamed up with University of Iceland to research this development. A report was published in November in 2019. The main conclusion in the report is that the photographer Einar Páll Svavarsson gave the canyon its name, and turned it into one of the most popular tourist attractions in Iceland with his writing and photography.

Stuðlagil canyon in August 2016 before it became a tourist attraction and the photo that made it world famous.
The canyon Stuðlagil is about 500 meters long and filled with the basalt columns on both sides that are as high as 30 m tall. The formation is other-worldly and various colors contribute to the magic of the canyon.

The river Jökla runs through the canyon. The water level decreased by 7 to 8 m after the opening of the Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Plant in 2009.