Epic Travel → Europe → Iceland → Southern Iceland → Skaftafellsjökull

Location: Skaftafell, Vatnajökull National Park, Southern Iceland

Time Required: 1 – 2 hours, depending on how much exploring you do around/on the glacier

Distance: ~4km (2.5 miles) roundtrip

Elevation Gain/Loss: Very little

Red Tape/Notes: You’ll need to pay for parking at the Skaftafell visitor center, but otherwise there’s no cost to enter the park. The path is initially paved, then turns to gravel, then turns into use trails where you drop down to explore the base of the glacier or hike up on the glacier if you have the equipment for it (you’ll probably want spikes if you’re planning to any extensive walking)

What’s Nearby?: Vatnajökull, Svartifoss, Fjallsárlón, Jökulsárlon, Black Sand Diamond Beach, Ice Caves

This is the easiest trail in the Skaftafell area, being only 2 km long and traversing a flat paved and gravel pathway with increasingly better views of the glacier the further you travel on the trail. The ultimate view is, of course, being right at the base of the glacier (or on it), but at this point you’ve left the official trail. Various use trails run over the terrain at the base and you can easily walk to the edge of the lake created by the receding glacier, dotted with icebergs, and if you’re committed you can find a reasonable access point for hiking up on to the glacier. Hiking on a glacier obviously incurs its own set of risks, and you shouldn’t do it unless you’re prepared.

Epic Travel → Europe → Iceland → Southern Iceland → Skaftafellsjökull