Skaftafell and surroundings

Skaftafell and surroundings in a panorama. On the left is Skaftafell and the glacier on the right is Svinafelljokull just visible under the clouds. The Skaftafell National Park is located between the towns of Kirkjubæjarklaustur and Höfn in southern Iceland. Since 2008, the Jökulsárgljúfur National Park and surrounding area form part of Vatnajökull National Park. The Skaftafell area was declared a national park on September 15, 1967, and it was subsequently expanded to twice its original size. The area is now about 1700 km². It is the second largest park in Iceland. Part of the park is the Mörsárdalur valley, Kristinartindar mountain, Svartifoss waterfall and the glacier Skaftafellsjökull, part of the Vatnajökull. The landscape is the result of thousands of years influences of volcanic eruptions under the Öræfajökull, wear through the glaciers Skeiðarájökull and Skaftafellsjökull and through rivers such as the Skeiðará, Morsá and Skaftafellsá. Vulcanic eruptions under ice-creams can cause glacier threats (ice-skating jökulhlaup) that can rip the rivers with huge amounts of melting water and mud to catastrophic floods. After a glacier breakthrough there are sandy plains between the glacier and the coast, a sandy island in Iceland. Also between Skaftafell and the coast, which is a few kilometers away, is such a sandy plain, a dangerous, black and desolate area with only mild and small vegetation here and there. Skaftafell is a popular place because the climate is mild to Icelan