Lakagígar Craters

Highland

On June 8, 1783, the ground cracked open along a 27-kilometre fissure in Iceland's southern highlands and kept erupting for eight months. Fluorine in the ashfall poisoned livestock and pastures, triggering a famine that killed an estimated 9,000–10,000 people — roughly a fifth of the population. A sulphur dioxide haze spread across Europe that summer and the Northern Hemisphere cooled for years. Today the surrounding lava field, Eldhraun, is carpeted in thick green moss — one of the largest such fields on Earth. Around 130 craters line up in an eerily regular row. A marked trail climbs 1.8 kilometres to the summit of Mount Laki at 818 metres, where the full crater row stretches to both horizons. Information boards explain the eruption's consequences. Access is via road F206, a rough highland track about 40 kilometres from the Ring Road with river crossings; allow two hours each way. The road typically opens late June and closes in early September, and a capable 4x4 is essential — a standard car will not get through. Guided super-jeep tours from towns in South Iceland are a practical alternative if you would rather not drive the F206 yourself.

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