South-West Iceland salmon river (one of Iceland's multiple Hvítás). Close to Reykjavik with strong salmon and sea-trout runs. Less remote than northern rivers. Volcanic bedrock underlies this river. Iceland's salmon are managed conservatively under operator and national rules — quotas, size limits and catch-and-release are widely applied; check the river's rules before fishing.
The Borgarfjörður Hvítá — the 'White River' — pours off the Langjökull and Eiríksjökull ice and runs the length of west Iceland's most prolific salmon country, gathering nearly every river of the district to it: the Norðurá, the Grímsá, the Þverá and the Kjarrá all pay their water in before it reaches the sea. It is a glacial river, pale and opaque with rock-flour, carrying that milky power through a broad lowland of lava and gravel. Near Húsafell it forces through a narrow lava channel at Barnafoss in violent blue-white rapids, with the spring-water cascades of Hraunfossar seeping from the lava alongside. The famous fly water lies on the clear tributaries; the main Hvítá is big, strong, silted glacial water best read by its seams and tributary mouths. Wading the main stem is bold work in poor visibility on a shifting gravel bed.
Wading: Poor visibility and shifting gravel in glacial water
- River
- Volcanic
- Unconfined
- Large river
