Overview
About Skaftafell Nature Reserve
Ice, water and woodland
Glaciers and rivers have carved the surrounding valleys and carried sediment onto the lowlands. Skeiðará was a major barrier to travel until it was bridged in 1974, and its outburst floods are associated with Grímsvötn. Sheltered slopes support birch woodland with scattered rowan; Bæjarstaðarskógur contains birches taller than those in many other Icelandic woods.
From farmland to national park
Skaftafell was a manor farm and assembly site in medieval times. As Skeiðará encroached on lowland fields, nineteenth-century farmers moved homes and cultivation uphill. Those slopes later proved awkward for mechanised farming. When the national park was established on 15 September 1967, local farmer Ragnar Stefánsson became its first ranger, linking the area's farming history with its conservation role.
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