The section of the Jökulsá á Dal river which is named Stuðlagil (Basalt Column Gorge) is considered to have one of Iceland's largest collections of basalt columns. Today, the river itself is hardly comparable to former times, when it was a gushing glacial river transporting tonnes of sediment. This is because the Jökulsá á Dal was closed off by the building of Kárahnjúkar Dam between 2003 and 2007. Most of the water once running through Stuðlagil was thereby diverted into a tunnel to Fljótsdalur Station, where it generates 690MW of electricity.

Nowadays, the Jökulsá á Dal is normally clear and greenish-blue, though melting snow in the spring and spillway overflow in the late summer may affect its appearance.

Basalt columns are the crystals into which lava has contracted as it was cooling. While these are frequently vertical structures, this gorge contains both vertical and horizontal columns. Their most common form is hexagonal, though they can for instance also have four, five or seven sides.

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