Skaftafell National Park

Download

Trail photos

Author

Ferrran7

with 1 trail buddy

2,303 132 1319

See more trails from this author

Trail stats

Distance: 10.33 mi
Elevation gain: 2,566 ft
Technical difficulty: Moderate
Elevation loss: 2,566 ft
Max elevation: 2,700 ft
TrailRank: 43
Min elevation: 269 ft
Trail type: Loop

Time: 7 hours 3 minutes
Coordinates: 1413
Uploaded: December 9, 2020
Recorded: May 2014

1 Clap

near Skaftafell, Austurland (Ísland)

Viewed 879 times, downloaded 13 times

Trail photos

Itinerary description

Skaftafell National Park was established in 1967, but nowadays is a part of the Vatnajökull National Park, since 2008. We followed a short and easy trail from the Skaftafell Visitor Center towards the waterfall Svartifoss, always North and uphill, crossed the river twice until we got in front of one of the most beautiful and famous waterfalls in Iceland, the 'black waterfall' (Svartifoss), sourranded by basalt columns. It was named after the dark colour of those columns. After recovering from our astonishment, then took a path (the S3 according to the map https://www.vatnajokulsthjodgardur.is/static/files/svaedin/skaftafell/Kort-baeklingar/skaftafell_stortkort.jpg ), towards Skerhóll mountain (524m.). The path actually passes nearby. We wanted to reach further out, left the S3 trail and tried to follow the S4 and climb the Kristínartindar mountain but it was suddenly covered by mist. Thanks to the GPS we found the way back to the main S3 trail, moving East. Fortunately, the mist disappeared later on and we were able to admire the Skaftafessjökull glacier a little bit. From then on, the path went South and the S3 became the S5 that led us back to the visitor centre. A beautiful and astonishing hiking trail, 100% recommendable!

Waypoints

Start

Close to the Skaftafell Visitor Center. First signs

Bridge

Wooden bridge close to Svartifoss waterfall

Svartifoss waterfall

Svartifoss (Black Waterfall) is a waterfall in Skaftafell, in Vatnajökull National Park in Iceland, and is one of the most popular sights in the park. It is surrounded by dark lava columns, the waterfall was named after those columns.