Hornstrandir Nature Reserve
Address
Aðalstræti 10, Ísafjörður, Iceland

Hornstrandir Nature Reserve

Aðalstræti 10, Ísafjörður, Iceland

RATING (4.6)

Reviews

Ronan DEMAILLY
Ronan DEMAILLY
3 months ago

Great hidden space in Europe. Be careful, hiking times for locals are underestimated - a 2 hours hike for them can take you 3 to 4. It adds up on a full day hike. I recommend this place for sure, people are so nice and nature is intact.

V Staheli
V Staheli
a month ago

Nice place to visit. Only downside is the small bugs swarming your face. They don't bite but can be annoying.

Mel Wade
Mel Wade
a year ago

An amazing experience! Some of the most remote and rugged backpacking I have done, but we'll worth the effort. I was able to see an arctic sunset in the north.

Dan Ydestrand
Dan Ydestrand
6 months ago

Beautiful scenery. Some say it's haunted.

Andrew Lagomarsino
Andrew Lagomarsino
7 months ago

Did 6 days of backpacking. Gorgeous scenery. Awesome place. Unpredictable weather. Hard top rain gear and heavy-duty rain paints are essential in order to avoid being soaked to the bone. GPS is also essential. Visibility was near zero and, at times, zero going through one mountain pass due to fog plus horizontal rain. Cairns were worthless. Three pieces of Fljotavatn area hiking advice. First, if you are planning to cross the Fljotavatn, there are two pathways across. Using one of them will save you three or more hours of hiking at least. However, the 2 or 3 maps of the area that I have seen place them at the wrong locations, much closer to the tidal mouth of the body of water than in reality. The actual locations are basically through the widest part of the water and can be crossed even during high tide -- if it hasn't been raining very heavily in recent days. There is a series of white, wooden signs marking the exact locations of the Fljotavatn crossings. Second piece of advice. Maybe forgo staying at the Flotavik campsite. Coming from Latrar, my spouse and I never made it anywhere near the campsite by Altastadir. I took too long trying to find one of the incorrectly placed crossings on my map. I risked hypothermia in my vain attempt. The next day, having to walk around much of Fljotavatn, I realized that even if I had known for sure where the actual crossings were, the amount of hiking involved in such a slow-going, boggy area as the Fljotavatn wasn't worth the effort to reach and camp at the Flotavik site. A conversation I had with a couple hikers who have stayed there confirm that there is nothing special about the site itself. So unless your information is better than mine or you are traveling during a dry time of year (which I'm not sure really exists in that area) then I would advise skipping the Fljotavik campsite. Though it is not something I normally advise, you can always camp at a non-designated spot on higher ground away from the bog. And you'll save yourself many hours of (needless) hiking. Third piece of advice. Consider wearing water socks as the area is boggy even in late August ( a relatively dry period). My spouse did and was able to hike quicker than I expected -- which was, of course, slower than if the ground was dry. High-top galoshes would be preferable to high-top hiking boots since they tend to rise higher on the leg. I opted to keep my hiking boots on and managed to keep my feet dry but barely. It's just so very easy to step and have your foot disappear in mud or water past the top of your boot. But I was traveling during very late August, a relatively dry time of year. (Still got soaked by heavy, prolonged rain.) Good luck.

Address
Aðalstræti 10, Ísafjörður, Iceland