Skaftafell Falljokull Glacier Advanced Hike

Deeper onto Falljökull

Falljökull, the 'falling glacier', flows from the high ice of Öræfajökull and drops through a dramatic icefall before spreading into a broad tongue near the Ring Road. Easy hikes stay close to the snout; this advanced route continues further up the glacier, where the surface becomes steeper, the ridges taller and the crevasses deeper. The scenery changes with every step, from dirty grey ice dusted with volcanic ash to clean blue ice sculpted by meltwater.

Because the group is small and the time on the ice is longer, the guide can pick a more adventurous line and stop to explain how the glacier moves, cracks and melts. You spend most of the 5 hours walking, so a good base fitness matters. For travellers who already did a short glacier walk elsewhere, this is the natural next step.

Ice axe technique, crevasses and moulins

On steeper sections you learn to use the ice axe for balance, to place crampons flat on the ice and to move safely on slopes, skills that make the hike feel like a small mountaineering lesson. Your guide fixes the route, cuts steps where needed and keeps the group close together at all times, so no previous experience on ice is required.

The rewards are the features you rarely see on short walks: moulins, the vertical shafts where meltwater plunges deep into the glacier; narrow blue crevasses that open and close as the ice flows; and sharp ridges with wide views over the outwash plains. Is an advanced glacier hike in Iceland worth it? If you enjoy hiking and want a real sense of glacier travel, it offers far more than a standard walk.

Öræfajökull, the volcano above the ice

Above you rises Öræfajökull, a large ice-covered stratovolcano at the southern edge of Vatnajökull and the source of Falljökull's ice. Its explosive eruption in 1362 devastated the farms of the area, which was afterwards called Öræfi, 'the wasteland'; it erupted again in 1727. Hvannadalshnúkur, on the rim of its summit crater, is the highest peak in Iceland at about 2,110 metres.

On clear days the white dome of the volcano dominates the view from the ice, and your guide explains how volcanic heat and ash influence the glacier below. Thin black layers in the ice are ash from past eruptions in the region, frozen in place and slowly carried downhill over centuries.

Hof, Öræfi and Skaftafell

The hike starts from a glacier base in Hof, a small hamlet in the Öræfi district a short drive east of the Skaftafell visitor centre. Hof's turf church, completed in 1884 and the last in Iceland built in the old turf style, stands a few minutes away. The base offers free parking, toilets and a warm room for gear fitting, so you avoid the busy Skaftafell car park.

As for how to get to Hof, drive the Ring Road (Route 1); it is roughly four to five hours from Reykjavík and about an hour from the Jökulsárlón lagoon. Combine the day with the Svartifoss trail in Skaftafell, a waterfall framed by basalt columns, if you still have energy after the hike.