Walking trails in Suðursveit Route descriptions
Take CARE here - the edge is very steep. Continue east along the edge to the Snældubjarg rock face, from where there are fine views of the basalt columns of Fallastakkanöf. Keep going east to Helluhóll, the low hill on the north side of Hestgerðishnúta. From here you can either make a detour south up to Bleikuhnúta or keep on along the path under Hrafnabjörg and Uppsalir back to Smyrlabjörg.
Kálfafellstindur or turn back at the grassy clump at the top of the valley to the right. From Kálfafellstindur there is a magnificent view down Kálfafellsdalur and over the heart of the district.
19. Sléttaleiti – Steinadalur - Neðridalur
1. Smyrlabjörg - Skálafellssel
Starting point: Smyrlabjörg. Route description: 2-3 hours. Max. height about 140 m. Route marked with posts and cairns. From Smyrlabjörg, follow the path up the hillside and then north along the top. Cross the dam at the Smyrlabjargaá hydroelectric plant and go down the gully Nautastígur. Continue north under the slopes to Skálafellssel, where you can see the remains of a farm abandoned in 1875. Go back by way of the narrow gully Stórsteinagjót, where there are some old pens once used in the sheep round-up. From here the path returns direct to Smyrlabjörg.
Kálfafellsdalur
Photo: Hjörleifur
2. Smyrlabjörg – lake Káravatn
Starting point: Smyrlabjörg. Route description: 5-6 hours on foot, route marked with posts. From Smyrlabjörg, follow the path up the hillside and then north along the top. Cross the dam and continue north all the way to Skálafellshnúta. Go up around the mountainside to lake Káravatn, then straight across Miðbotnafjall and continue west under Botnafellshnúta. From here, either take the Jöklavegur track back, or follow route 3 down into Staðardalur valley.
3.
Innstavatn – Borgarhöfn
Starting point: Signpost by lake Innstavatn on Borgarhafnarfjall. Route description: About 3 hours. Max. height above sea level about 196 m, route marked. Follow the track up around Innstavatn, then turn south and continue round the west side of the lake. Descend along the north side of the stream down Þverárgil and then south under the slopes at Bröttutungur; then left up into Svínadalur valley and down Borgarhafnardalur valley back to the settlements at Borgarhöfn.
4. Kolgríma – Nípur – Kolgríma
Starting point: Flood wall on the river Kolgríma. Route description: About 1 hour. Very easy walking, flat the whole way. Route marked. Start from the flood wall on the west bank of Kolgríma and keep southwest to the old boat at Nípur. Return by the same route. The walk goes over mossy lavafields, bog and dry grassland, with rich and varied vegetation and bird life along the way.
5.a Smyrlabjörg – Jöklavegur – Kambtún
Starting point: Smyrlabjörg, or the signpost on the track by the power lines leading off from the Jöklavegur track. Route description: About 3 hours, route marked. From Smylabjörg, take the path up the hillside and keep along the top. Follow the Jöklavegur road to the track by the power lines and turn west along it to the Lönguhlíðarskarð gap, with lake Svínavatn on your right. Keep on to Fallastakkanöf. Take CARE here - the edge is very steep. Turn east along the top to Snældubjarg, which is a good place to stop and rest. From here, make your way down into Hestadalur valley, over two streams, and down the east side of Kambtúnsgil gully, ending up at the old workhuts at Kambtún.
Photo: Hjörleifur
13. Kálfafellsdalur valley
Starting point: Vagnsstaðir. Route description: 1 km, about 1 hour on foot. Very easy walking suitable for all. Route marked. The route is over wetland and mossy lavafields - 'hraun' means lava - with varied bird life along the way. From Vagnsstaðir, follow along Eystra Borgarhraun to Syðra Borgarhraun; between the lavafields are the remains of sheep pens once used in the round-up. Then on to Eystra Skarðahraun. About half-way through the lavafield is the abandoned farm Bær Skarða, with some ruined sheep huts which were used up to around 1930.
Starting point: Sléttaleiti, the abandoned farm under Steinafjall Route description: 3-4 hours. Fairly demanding. Route unmarked. Go east under the slopes to the old farm of Steinar. Continue east and then turn up the steep slopes above Klifatangi and in along the mountainside to the belt of rocks down from the edge of Steinafjall. Following along these rocks, there is a steep, narrow cleft where you can make your way up. Keep on up to the edge of Steinafjall and along the edge into Neðridalur valley. Return the same way.
Mallard at Skarðahraun Photo: Björn A.
7. Bær Skarða
Smyrlabjörg
fence and have a look at the cave Rannveigarhellir. The quickest way back is over the muds straight to Klifatangi, wading Köldukvísl on the way. Route 18 b. From Vindás, head along the ridge southwest into the ravine Klukkugil. Either turn back here and keep along the muds back to Klifatangi, or return by route 18.a. Route 18 c. From the mouth of Klukkugil you can continue north to Staðarfjall, up past Efsthöfði and into the grassy hollow Garðhvammur, and then follow route 14.
8. Vagnsstaðir – Bær Skarða – river Staðará
Starting point: Vagnsstaðir. Route description: About 2 hours over wetland and mossy lava. Route marked. Follow route 7 as far as the ruins of Bær Skarða. Then keep on under the edge of Vestra Skarðahraun. Turn left down along Staðará river and cross at the ford out the foreshore.
Starting point: By car to the flood defence wall at the bottom of Kálfafellsdalur. Route description: 6-8 hours easy walking from the flood wall. Lowland the whole way but very rocky in places. Route unmarked. Please do not use this route earlier in the year than July. Keep dogs on a lead. Go up the east side of the valley, keeping up against the mountains. The route crosses the stream Kaldá, past the gullies Kaldárgil and Kálfaflatagil and on to Laufatungur, a wooded slope under the gully Laufatungnagil. Here there is a hot spring, and to the west a view opens up to the Rjúpnahryggur ridge and into Vatnsdalur, the valley that extends west from the top of Kálfafellsdalur. It is possible get all the way up to Brókarjökull, the icefall at the head of the valley. Towards the top of the valley there are cliffs of light-coloured rhyolite and distinctive transverse volcanic intrusions in the mountainsides. It is simplest to come back the same way, but, depending on the streams of Steinavötn (where water levels can be very high in summer), it is also possible to get across the muds or down the west side of the valley.
14. Staðarfjall
9. Vagnsstaðir – fjaran
Starting point: Vagnsstaðir. Route description: 1-2 hours (about a mile) over wetland, grassy mudflats, sands and lavafields. Route marked. Follow the stream Borgarhafnará down towards the sea. You have to cross at a shallow ford. There are two footbridges on the way and a marked path out to the shore. Reaching the lagoon, after the second bridge, you have the lavafields Bjarnahraun to your right and Töðuhraun nearby. Cross the sands of Bjarnahraunsandur down to the foreshore and continue east to Hálsar. (see: Hálsaós)
10. Birnudalstindur – Kálfafellsfjöll
Starting point: Miðfellsegg. Route description: About 10 hours. Very challenging walk, not for the inexperienced. Route not marked. Height at Miðfellsegg 1128 m; max. height en route is Birnudals-tindur (1326 m). Do not attempt this route except in good visibility and/or with a guide. Drive up to the ice cap by all-terrain vehicle. Proceed west on foot along the edge at Miðfellsegg to Birnu-dalstindur, from where there are fine views west to Snæfell and northwest to Kverk- fjöll in the far distance. Follow the ridges southeast to the peaks of Kálfafellstindur, and from there head down Hrossadalur valley and on to Hrollaugsstaðir on the main road. The high-lands up from the settlement around Kálfafell and Hrollaugsstaðir (Miðþorp) are an attractively shaped pyramid of blue basalt. Along the Birnudalstindur Photo: Hjörleifur route there is varied mountain vegetation.
Starting point: By car to Vindás or the fence of the forestry plantation on Staðarfjall; the route is only possible for 4-wheel drive vehicles and can be impassable when Kaldakvísl is in spate. Or by foot across the mudflats from Klifatangi rocks at the eastern end of Steinafjall. Route description: Max. height 550 m. 8-10 hours. Route unmarked. Quite demanding walking. Follow route 18.a to Staðarfjall. Go up by the cave Rannveigarhellir along the stream Hellisá, past Höfðar, in through the gap Þröng and the grassy hollow Garðhvammur, and along the sheep tracks across the steep screes to Hvannadalur valley. From here there is a fine view down the ravine Klukkugil. Keep on up the east side of Hvannadalur to Miðfell, the mountain over the middle of the valley. You can make a detour into Klifagil gully. Then keep on up Kálfafleti to the hill Stórhóll, and then down the ravine Nautastígsgil and the descent at Nautastígur into Kálfafellsdalur. Then keep on south under the mountainside back to your starting point.
15. Reynivellir – Steinadalur
Starting point: Reynivellir. Route description: 6-8 hours. Max. height 710 m. Very demanding and not advisable except in good visibility and/or with a guide. Route unmarked. From Reynivellir, follow the route up from Bæjarbotn under the slopes onto the Eggjar ridge, where there are fine views. Keep on down into Steinadalur with the ravine Klukkugil to your left, coming out at Vindás, and then down along the rocks of Klifatangi to the main road.
16. Reynivellir – Staðarfjall
Starting point: Reynivellir. Route description: 2 days, very demanding walking and inadvisable except in good visibility and/or with a guide. Route unmarked. From Reynivellir, skirt round Reynivallafjall and head north to Þverárfjall; from here you can climb Þverártindur (c.1100 m). Continue down into Hvannadalur, where there are good places to pitch camp, e.g. under Miðfell. Keep on down Hvannadalur on the west side of the river, along the slopes of Brattabrekka, and on down into Steinadalur with the ravine Klukkugil to your left, coming out at Vindás, then around Klifatangi to the main road.
Reynivellir
Photo: Hjörleifur
20. Reynivellir – Bæjarbotn
Starting point: Hvekksgil east of Reynivellir Route description: 2-4 hours. Quite hard going. Route unmarked. Go up through the ravine Hvekksgil onto Bæjarbotn and west along the slopes at Heiði. From there, down the steep climb Gvendarstigi to Ranhóll and back to Reynivellir.
at one time the seat of the sheriff of Austur-Skaftafellsýsla, with extensive lands and good pasturage. The streams which flowed down from Breiðamerkurjökull were generally fairly small, but were liable to swell violently during thaws and glacial outbursts, causing widespread damage and erosion. The land suffered further from the advance of the glacier in the 18th and 19th centuries, and in 1869 the farm itself was swept away by massive flooding from the stream Veðurá. Within the lands of Fell were four smallholdings which also succumbed to the encroachment of the glacier and its streams; one of them, Bakki, stood on a little rise on the banks of Fellsá, where ruins can still be seen. In Hólmafjall, at the mouth of the canyon Fellsárgljúfur, there is a cave called Fellsskjól or Skjól ('Shelter'), where there are remains of sheep shelters from the 19th century. Part of the cave was partitioned off for storing hay; the partition is still in good preservation. There are many local traditions of elves or hidden folk in the neighbourhood of Fell. One story tells that one time everyone had gone to church except two children, a brother and sister, who were playing in the sleeping loft. They became hungry and wished for something to eat. A little while later they saw a plate of food on the platform beside them. The boy wanted to eat, but his sister did not dare to and threw the plate down from the platform. In the night their mother dreamed that an elf woman came to her and told her that she had given her children food; but the girl had broken her youngest child's leg when she threw away the plate and spurned her gift, and for this she would have bad luck for the rest of her life. Another time the people at Borgarhóll, one of the smallholdings just east of Veðurá, thought they could smell meat cooking and wished for a bite. A platter of food appeared, which they ate with relish. As payment, they put some red cloth and belts in the platter and left it where they had found it. The next morning the platter had disappeared. One day the people of Fell had an unusually good catch of trout. It was late when they got home and so they left the fish in a stall in the cowshed. When they came back the next morning they found all the fish crawling about over the floor and up the walls. The belief was that one of the fish had been poisoned and the poison had spread to the others, bringing them all back to life.
11. Around Hrollaugsstaðir
Starting point: West bank of Staðará, by the bridge. Route description: About 1 hour, easy walking. Route unmarked. Follow down along Staðará and on past the band of rocks called Hellaklettar. Under the rocks there are the walls of an old farm and, farther on at the western end, Völvuleiði, 'The Grave of the Seeress' (see: Kálfafellsstaður). Either return the same way, or head north along the rocks, over the stream Butrukíll and on to Butruklettar and then back to Hrollaugsstaðir.
Fallastakkanöf
6. Smyrlabjörg – Jöklavegur – Fallastakkanöf Smyrlabjörg
Starting point: Smyrlabjörg or the Jöklavegur track. Route description: 4-5 hours, route marked. Max. height about 384 m. From Smyrlabjörg, go over the hill and take the Jöklavegur road west to the track beside the electrical power lines. Keep west along this track to the Lönguhlíðarskarð gap, passing lake Svínavatn on your right. Follow the marked path on to Fallastakkanöf.
Steinadalur, Vindás Kálfafellsstaður and Hrossadalur
Photo: Hjörleifur
12 . Hrossadalur valley above Hrollaugsstaðir Starting point: Hrollaugsstaðir. Route description: About 1 hour to Hrossadalur, short but fairly steep. 3-4 hours on up Kálfafellstindur. Max. height 663 m. Route unmarked. Go past the church at Kálfafellstaður and up the little valley just west of the farm buildings. You can continue all the way up
Photo: Hjörleifur
18. a, b, c, Klifatangi – Vindás – Klukkugil – Stað arfjall
Starting point : Klifatangi, at the eastern end of Steinafjall Route description: 5-6 hours. Easy walking the whole way. Route unmarked. Route 18 a. From Klifatangi, follow the slopes of Steinafjall west across the muds or along the river. Just before the low ridge Vindás there are some old ruins; one of them, clearly visible up on a rock, is believed to be the old church of Vindás. From Vindás, continue under the low hill Höfði north to Staðarfjall. Stop by the forestry plantation
Photo: Ísleifur
Hrollaugshólar (routes 21)
Pair of small hills at the extreme west of the district, the last blue basalt lavas in the lowlands before the sands of Breiðamerkursandur. Up until the 19th century, in Hólaskarð, the gap between the hillocks, there was a mound called Hrollaugshaugur which was said to be the burial place of the original Viking age settler, Hrollaugur Jarlsson. Then the river Fellsá changed its course and now flows through the gap and the mound has disappeared entirely.
The story goes that Ingimundur had succumbed to temptation and rebuilt a hay wall which had been in bad repair, and that this had brought the rains down on the farm. After 1829 the farm was moved farther west along the slopes and renamed Sléttaleiti. Sléttaleiti was abandoned in 1952.
Long ago at Skálafell in the east of the district there lived a convicted man called Kári. One day he was surprised by his enemies and killed. His dying wish was that he should be buried under his boat by the lake up on the mountain where he had gone fishing. The lake now bears his name - Káravatn - and his grave mound is called Kárahaugur. Also associated with Kári is a pool in the river Kolgríma called Sleggjupollur into which he had thrown his sledgehammer shortly before his death. Káravatn is said to be the home of a 'nicker' or kelpie, a dangerous magical water-horse. One day the lady of Skálafell saw her five children climbing onto a grey horse that was lying out in the yard. Four of the children were already on its back but the youngest had not yet managed to get up. The terrified mother let out a scream which startled the horse. It threw the children off in all directions and took to flight up the mountain and disappeared. It was thought that it had meant to take all the children with it down into the lake.
Starting point: Northeast of Fell, by the river Mjósundaá Route description: About 2 hours easy walking to Skjól. About 6 hours hard going on to Aurar, max. height 440 m. Route unmarked. By car, take the side track west of Fellsá river up to the eastern flank of the mountain. Leave the car and ford Mjósundaá. Follow the river up to the grassy clump and then east to Skjól ('Shelter', see Fell) at the mouth of the canyon Fellsárgljúfur, where there is a cave and traces of old buildings. From here you can turn west over Mjósundaá and return along the eastern slopes of Fellsfjall, or continue up the ravine to Aurar, the glacial muds beneath the ice of Fellsárjökull.
Fell
Photo: Hjörleifur
Jón Eiríksson of Skálafell
At the western end of the bridge over Kolgríma in the east of the district stands a memorial to Jón Eiríksson. Jón was born in 1728 at Skálafell, one of eight brothers and sisters, and went to school at Skálholt cathedral near Geysir. The bishop encouraged Jón to go abroad and he finished his schooling in Trondheim in Norway before studying law in Copenhagen. His entire adult life was spent in Denmark in public service, gaining him the honorific title 'konferensráð' (privy councillor). He wrote books and papers on various subjects, introducing to Iceland the ideas of the European Enlightenment. He died in Copenhagen in 1787, possibly by his own hand, borne down by anxiety at the parlous state of his homeland ravaged by volcanic disaster, famine and smallpox.
Nautastígur
Towards the outside of the hollow Garðhvammur on the southern slopes of Staðarfjall there is a large patch of turf and heather. On the north side of this patch, under hand-sized flakes of stone, there are remains of a wooden cross carved by the writer Þórbergur Þórðarson (see Hali) as he watched over lambs as a young child in the spring of 1902. Garðhvammur ('Wall Hollow') gets its name from an old stone wall which was built from the edge of Klukkugil up to the cliffs above to stop cattle grazing in Hvannadalur from getting down out of the valley. To confuse the cattle, they were driven in up Kálfafellsdalur and then west into Hvannadalur through Nautastígur ('Cattle Path') over a ridge rising to 550 m. One year the cattle stampeded round the wall and plummeted over the edge into the ravine. After this, people stopped using Hvannadalur for summer grazing.
Starting point: The farm ruins at Fell. Route description: 4 hours. Easy walking, all on the flat. Route unmarked. From Fell, go west under the mountain, into the gap Þröng and up to the glacier. Same route back.
Places of interest
Demlusteinn (routes 5b)
Pair of stones under Fallastakkanöf on the western flank of Borgarhafnarfjall. One of the stones is split in two and called Demlusteinn or Dumli. The story goes that a passer-by there once heard a sound like lumps of butter ('demlur') being churned inside the stone; it is still said that you can hear a churning sound if you put your ear to the stone.
Fallastakkanöf (see Hestgerðishnúta) (5a, 5b, 6) Fell / Skjól (routes 22, 23)
The abandoned farm of Fell, the most westerly in the district, was
Klukkugil
Photo: Hjörleifur
Memorial to the brothers from Hali. Photo: Hjörleifur
Hali
Hali, one of the Breiðabólsstaður farms by the main road south of Steinafjall, was the birthplace and childhood home of perhaps Iceland's most loved writer, Þórbergur Þórðarson (1889-1974). Þórbergur's writings are mostly non-fiction, filled with quirky observations on life and self-deprecating good humour and marked by a piercing eye for the foibles of others and, most of all, himself. Many of his books describe incidents from his childhood at Hali. In June 1992 a memorial of gabbro to Þórbergur and his brothers Steinþór and Benedikt was unveiled above the main road opposite the farm.
Laufatungur (routes 13)
Wooded slope on the east side of Kálfafellsdalur valley down from Brókarjökull. Nearby is a spring with water at 63°C.
Nípur at the mouth of Kolgríma was a smallholding from Smyrlabjörg until around 1800. The last residents were a pair of wealthy brothers who were said to sit around drinking coffee from wooden bowls and ladles.
Photo: Hjörleifur
Memorial to Jón Eiríksson
Photo: Sigurður Mar
Kambtún under Hestgerðisfjall in the Borgarhöfn district was until the 16th century the main base for the seasonal fishermen from the north who rowed out from Hálsaós. Remains of their huts can still been seen by the lagoon. The migrant workers at Kambtún had a reputation for loose living. One story tells of two of them attempting to bed the farmers' wives at Borgarhöfn and Hestgerði, and having a bet as to who would succeed first. Another version of the story has them competing to seduce the farmer's daughter at Skálafell. But the weather was atrocious and the bet ended with both men dying of cold before reaching their destinations. The fun and games made the camps at Kambtún a popular place to visit; it became a local saying in Suðursveit to 'come on down to Kambtún if the evenings seem too long'. The appalling disaster at Hálsaós in 1573 was attributed to divine wrath at the wickedness of the fishermen of Kambtún.
Up until the 16th century Hálsaós was an important fishing station. Men came all the way from the north of Iceland for the winter fishing, as witness the local placename Eyfirðingabúðir ('Camp of the Men of Eyjafjörður'). There are still traces of huts used during the fishing season on the shingles by Kambtún. It seems that the route south lay directly across the Vatnajökull ice-cap, coming down by Hálsatindur and Staðardalur valley; this route has long since fallen into disuse, though is reckoned both short and fairly easy. In 1573 nearly 100 men, most of them northerners, were lost when 17 boats went down in a single day; thereafter fishing was discontinued at Hálsaós and moved west along the coast to Bjarnahraunssandur.
'Rannveig's Cave', in the southern slopes of Staðarfjall. This Rannveig was said by some to have been a troll woman, by others a convict. The area was said to be haunted and few would stay there after dark. Until after 1920 the cave was used as a shelter for lambs for the first nights after they had been taken from their mothers. But shepherds would only get two or three nights peace in the cave before being forced to flee as a result of spooky goings on. The front of the cave is fairly low and you have to crawl to get in, but inside the roof is much higher. Against one wall there is a little platform which was said to be Rannveig's bed. Other stories tell of a tunnel from Rannveigarhellir through Steinfjall to a cave on Hólmafjall above Fell - a cat once disappeared from one cave and reappeared in the other, but had passed so close to hell on the way through that it emerged with its tail scorched black.
Rótargilshellir
Cave in the southern slopes of Steinafjall, used by sheep for shelter in bad weather. Tradition has it that if the cave is cleaned out only when necessary something good will arrive on the coasts of Breiðabólstaðarfjara; but if it is cleaned more often this luck will turn bad and whoever does the deed can expect unforeseen mishaps. One Sunday, shortly after the cave was cleaned, a large whale was washed up a little down the coast to the west - a very welcome windfall in a hungry country. The people could not start cutting it up immediately, so it was fastened securely and left while they went to church. Coming out, they found that the whale had moved east and was now directly south of Rótargilshellir. People said it was the work of land spirits who wanted to get the whale as close as possible to their cave.
Skjól (see Fell) (routes 22) Steinar and Sléttaleiti (routes 17,19)
Helluhraun
Abandoned farm on the lands of Borgarhöfn, on the edge of a lavafield with the same name. The farmer and his wife late in the 19th century claimed that they often heard the sounds of people at work in the rocks and saw candlelight coming from them. Every rock in the neighbourhood, they said, was the home of elves, who were helpful and good to have around. The one they saw most of was a lad called Jonn who drove the elves' packhorses.
Rising over the farm of Hestgerði is an impressive belt of crags called Hestgerðishnúta, pierced by deep hollows and with areas of sandstone between. At times sudden echoing sounds like gunshots can be heard, made by the passage of air in the hollows. Fallastakkanöf, higher up on Borgarhafnarfjall, is part of a distinctive formation of volcanic tuff,
Sléttaleiti 1932 or 1933 Sýslusafn A-Skaft
Rannveigarhellir (routes 14, 18a)
Hálsaós (routes 9)
Hestgerðishnúta / Fallastakkanöf (routes 5a, 5b, 6)
The ravine between Staðarfjall and Steinafjall. Folktales say it gets its name from a trollwoman called Klukka who lived in a cave under the rocks of Hellisklettur. Other stories relate the name to early Irish Christian hermits who threw their holy bells ('klukkur') into the ravine when they fled the heathen Viking settlers. Staðarfjall was once called Papýlisfjall - 'papýli' being the dwellings of Irish munks ('papar').
Nípur (routes 4)
Kambtún (routes 5a, 5b)
23. Fell
Vindás (routes 14, 16, 18a, 18b)
In 1998 some old walls were found under the ridge of Vindás in Steinadalur under Steinafjall. The ruins are probably those of the old church of Vindás mentioned in ancient documents.
Nautastígur (see Garðhvammur)
Garðhvammur / Nautastígur (routes 14, 18 c)
Hálsaós
Töðuhraun (see Bjarnahraunssandur) (routes 9)
Photo: Hjörleifur
Photo: Hjörleifur
Bjarnahraunssandur / Töðuhraun (routes 9)
Let no one here add cot or byre Or build again the meadow wall, Lest warring armies pour their fire From overhead down on us all. The streams will all in havoc toss Before we might repair the loss.
Klukkugil (routes 14, 15, 16, 18b, 18c)
Hrollaugshólar
22. Fell
Narrow outlet glacier at the top of Kálfafellsdalur, dropping very steeply to the valley from about 1100 m. The glacier advanced a fair distance in the years after 1960 but has since retreated considerably. At its height, the ice closed off the mouth of the valley Vatnsdalur just to the southwest, creating a lake which emptied from time to time, producing massive flows in the streams of Steinavötn. On the edge west of the glacier stand two columns of tuff called Karl ('Old Man'), about 30 m high, and the somewhat lower Kerling ('Old Woman').
Starting point: Kambtúnsgil gully. Route description: About 4 hours, route marked. Max. height about 384 m. Follow the marked footpath up through Kambtúnsgil and turn left along the mountain edge to the Snældubjarg rockface. Then up onto Fallastakkarnöf. Take CARE here - the edge is very steep. Keep along the marked path north to the Lönguhlíðarskarð gap, then turn left and follow the track by the power lines for about a kilometre down into Borgarhafnardalur valley, coming out at the farm Krókur. Keep on under the mountainside to Demlusteinar and then on to Kambtún, ending up at the old workhuts.
Káravatn (routes 2)
The pool Fífutjörn just east of Hrollaugsstaðir is said to contain a 'nicker' or kelpie, a magical water-horse. It was said to have sired a foal in the district, since no stallion had ever come near the mare. This foal turned out to be violent and terrible and beyond all control. When, in its third or fourth year, it died without apparent reason, it was believed that the devil had taken possession of it and killed it.
Starting point: Reynivellir. Route description: 2-3 hours. Easy walking. Route unmarked. Go west under the slopes to the grassy hollow Stórihvammur and the waterfall Fellsfoss. Then follow down the river Fellsá to Hrollaugshólar, and from there back along the road to Reynivellir.
Brókarjökull (routes 13)
5.b Kambtún – Fallastakkanöf – Lönguhlíðar skarð – Borgarhöfn – Kambtún
took refuge farther in along the slopes. While they waited for the rain and landslides to let up the farmer's wife, cowering under a rock, gave birth to a baby boy. Stories say that both mother and son survived their ordeal well. The farm of Steinar was supposed to have a spell on it saying that no one might make any changes to the house, add new buildings, or rebuild anything that went amiss - as in a verse attributed to Ingimundur, the last farmer:
21. Reynivellir – Fell
Bjarnahraunssandur took over as the chief fishing centre of the district after around 1573 when Hálsaós, about 5 km to the east, fell into disuse. At Töðuhraun just inland there is an old boat called Svanur ('Swan') which was used at Bjarnahraunssandur after 1920. There was still commercial fishing at Bjarnahraunssandur as late as 1950.
Photo: Hjörleifur
Hestgerðishnúta
1689 a newly-consecrated young minister decided to break the curse and installed a wooden statue of the church's patron saint, St. Olaf, king of Norway. This statue was the only thing to survive when the church was blown away in gales in 1886 and is now preserved in the National Museum in Reykjavík. Other stories say that the seeress had been a kinswoman of St. Olaf, or even his sister, and that it was she who advised the priest to install the statue. The seeress's grave is said to lie under a line of rocks called Hellaklettar beneath the meadow at Kálfafellstaður. Anyone who sees to its upkeep is supposed to enjoy special good fortune. One minister in his time built the grave up and tended it with great honour and was rewarded when a huge tree trunk was washed up nearby, enabling him to improve his own living quarters.
Fífutjörn
17. Klifatangi - Sléttaleiti
Starting point: Klifatangi, the rocky ascent at the eastern end of Steinafjall Route description: Easy walking, about 1 hour. Route unmarked. Drive to Klifatangi, then proceed on foot along the mountainside to Gleypa, Mosaklettur and the abandoned farm of Steinar. Continue along under the slopes to Sléttaleiti. Same route back.
with 90 m high basalt columns and a hollow whose position against the sun was used as a local clock by the farmers below. The edge gets its name from a supposed likeness to the lines on a shark's belly ('fallastakkur').
Kálfafellsstaður
Photo: Ísleifur
Kálfafellsstaður
Kálfafellsstaður has for centuries been the parsonage of the Miðþorp settlement at the junction of the Kálfafellsdalur and Staðardalur valleys and was reckoned a good appointment. In 1885 the turfbuilt church was replaced by a timber building which was destroyed in storms a few months later; the present church dates from 1926-27. One early priest was reputed to have second sight and became known as Galdra-Fúsi ('Magic Fúsi'). Torfhildur Hólm (1845-1918), author of historical potboilers and the first Icelander to make a living from writing, was the daughter of a later minister of Kálfafellsstaður. It is said that long ago a seeress owned half the lands at Kálfafellsstaður until driven away by a priest. She laid a curse on the place that no priest might live there longer than twenty years. In
Sléttaleiti
Photo: Hjörleifur
Under the rocks and screes at the eastern end of Steinafjall stand the ruins of Steinar. The farm was abandoned in 1829 when the hay meadow and almost all the pasturage was destroyed by floods from the streams of Steinavötn and land-slides from the mountain above - one huge rock fell on a smithy which stood a short distance from the other farm buildings, burying it completely. The other buildings remained unscathed but the people fled and
The nature
The nature and scenery of Austur-Skaftafellssýsla is unique. Many of its natural jewels are now protected, either as national parks, recreation areas, natural monuments or conservation areas. In many places there are stunning views to the glaciers over land moulded by the action of ice and water.
RULES FOR VISITORS 1. Leave your staging point in the condition you found it. 2. Don't drop litter - take it home with you. 3. Keep the water clean and pure. 4. Avoid damage to plant and animal life. 5. Avoid damage to the soil and rock formations. 6. Take care with fires. 7. Keep to marked walking routes where requested. 8. Keep dogs on a lead. 9. Respect the wishes and directions of landowners. 10. Treat our heritage and environment as objects of pleasure and pride.
Constant care, consideration and good conduct are essential if we want to keep the land clean and beautiful.
Walking routes in Suðursveit is the first in a series of maps entitled 'Við rætur Vatnajökuls' (The Roots of Vatnajökull), after the 1993 volume of Árbók Ferðafélag íslands (Journal of the Touring Club of Iceland). This volume contains detailed information about the region and its nature. Each map will cover a particular country district or 'sveit'. The maps are part of a wide-ranging project intended to make the county of Austur-Skaftafellssýsla more accessible and interesting to visitors in the spirit of sustainable development. Landowners bid walkers welcome but remind them that they must always exercise responsibility in how they use the land. The laws on the conservation of nature allow the public the right to walk on uncultivated land and camp there without special permission, but we request that you show landowners all due consideration, keep to designated walking routes and respect their rights as regards livestock and crops of all kinds.
Cartography: Sigurgeir Skúlason Text: Menningarmiðstöð Hornafjarðar English version: Nicholas Jones Published by: Átak í merkingu gönguleiða í Austur-Skaftafellssýslu (Austur-Skaftafellssýsla Campaign for the Marking of Walking Routes)
