Hvítá River or the White River is a glacial river that comes from Langjökull glacier, the second largest glacier in Iceland. Hvítá River is the third longest river in Iceland or just over 185 kilometers long. Iceland’s most famous waterfall, Gullfoss is in Hvítá River and the average flow in Gullfoss is 100m3/sec but can get up to twenty times more.
There are two more rivers in Iceland with the same name, one in Borgarfjörður in West-Iceland and the other in Austurdalur valley in North-Iceland. The name of the rivers is most likely taken from the fact that glacial rivers have light color. Hvítá River is one of the best rivers for rafting in Iceland and thousands of people take a rafting day tour every summer. Brúarárhlöð is a spot in the river, which is amazingly beautiful, and to raft through is like a trailer from Lord of Rings if you skip the fact that there was no rafting in those movies.