Walking Paths in DimmuborgirShorter route: 500-600 m, a 10-15 minute walk.

Proceed down from the car park and turn to the right. The pathtakes you along the southern end of Dimmuborgir, down to theBorgarskora channel, following it for a short distance to theeast. It then leads back towards the entrance.

Longer route: 600-80 m, a 15-20 minute walk. As you go down from the entrance, turn to the left, in thedirection of Hallarflt, a small grassy area surrounded by pil-lars and rock formations dotted with lava tube remains, not farfrom the entrance. A marked path leads to it. From there youproceed to Smyrilsklettar, cross the Grjtagj fissure and intothe Gatklettsrjur, towards the Gatklettur itself. Here there isa path leading across the clearing into the Borgarskora chan-nel and on to the shorter route and back to the entrance.

1-2. The Shorter and Longer routes combinedEspecially suitable for those with time on their hands. Youfirst take the shorter route and then continue along the longerone to Gatklettur, returning to the entrance across Grjtagjfissure past Smyrilsklettar and Hallarflt.

Kirkjuhringur (The church route):2400m - a 1-hour walk

this route roughly marks off the actual Dimmuborgir area.Start out by taking the same path as for the longer routetowards Gatklettur, then proceed to the east inside the clearinguntil you come to the place known as the Church. From therethe route continues to the west through Helgarjur (namedafter a pioneer of the land reclamation work in the area).Crossing a lava obstacle, you come to Stjrarjur and con-tinue from there, over further obstacles and uneven rocks,across the Grjtagj and along lava channels until you reachthe shorter route path at Borgarskora. Turn to the left, downthe channel, then up to its rim and follow it back to theentrance.

Dimmuborgir-Hverfjall-Grjtagj-Stragj:From Gatklettur there is an officially marked path around theHverfjall mountain, an explosion crater, and Grjagj fissure,to the village of Reykjahl, a 2-3 hour walk ending atStragj.

DIMMUBORGIRIN

MVATNSSVEIT

Prentsmijan Viey

Nature Conservation Agency

Soil Conservation Service

Sktustaahreppur

The Church

Walking Paths in Dimmuborgir

UST

03/09

Prentsmijan Viey

Environment and FoodAgency of Iceland

Soil Conservation Service

SktustaahreppurUS

T03

/09

DIMMUBORGIR(DARK FORTRESS)

IntroductionThe Mvatn region lies on an active volcanic belt, extendingfrom xarfjrur in the north to the Vatnajkull glacier in thesouth. A short distance away, to the north-east of Mvatn, isthe most active volcanic area, Krafla, cut by fissure swarmsextending in a north-south direction. Volcanic eruptions in thearea occur every few hundred years, their source being themagma chamber underneath Krafla. From there, the moltenmagma bursts through the fissure swarms, and explodes to thesurface.The rengslaborgir and Ldentsborgir pseudocrater clusterseast of the lake are part of a 10-km long series of craters,which erupted over 2000 years ago. From these the youngerLaxrhraun-lava flowed over the old Mvatn and down theLaxrdalur valley to the sea at Aaldalur - a distance of 63km. The younger Laxrhraun-lava, which is for the most partaa lava, covers an area of 220 km2. One of its most distin-guishing features is the pseudocraters which are to be foundall over the lava field from Dimmuborgir down to Aaldalur.

The formation of DimmuborgirTo the east of Mvatn, in an area where the lava is extremelyrough, stands the shield-like lava dome, Dimmuborgir, theremains of a lava pool formed when a lava flowed fromLdentsborgir was dammed up as it flowed into the lakeMvatn.Steam and gas eruptions formed a scoria capping on the lavaas it built up; eventually the lava broke through the dam andcascaded into lava channels. One such formation isBorgarskora, south of the scoria dome. close to the mainentrance. When the level of the lava pools subsided, a 10-20metre depression, bordered by vertical lava walls, was formedin the most westward part of the dome. In this area there arelava channels with tubes and trails, covered with a glassy lavacoating. There are also a number of ridges, cliffs and pillarsreaching as high as the orginal lava surface. It is thought thatthese pillars were formed by steam issuing through vents inthe lava pools when water was trapped underneath the lava.The rock in these pillars had solidified sufficiendly as toremain standing even after the crust about them had subsided.A common sight are the vertical marks (slickensides) wherethe crust scratched the cliff wall and pillars when subsiding.

Also to be seen are horizontal streaks where the crusts subsi-dence was temporarily halted.

Preservation of DimmuborgirIn the early forties Dimmuborgir was silting up with wind-blown sand. Some sections had already become totally sub-merged. To counteract this a conservation program was initi-ated. In 1942 the owners of the farm Geiteyjarstrnd, onwhose land the site is, handed over ownership to the SoilConservation Service, and in the same year this area of 4,2km2 was fenced in. To begin with, stone barriers were erect-ed and lymegrass was sown in the southern part of the area.Over the years the lymegrass has extended and effectivelyreduced the problem of silting; indeed, the area is now for themost part reclaimed. Birch trees are now commonplace, andhave spread to such a degree that some even regard them asan encroachment.

Fit trees were planted in a number of places in 1944-46 butfailed to thrive and some have been removed.In 1974, laws relating to the conservation of the Mvatn andLax region were enacted. The laws apply to the whole ofSktustair district and a 200 m wide area on both sides of theriver Lax down to its mouth. The total area is some 4.400km2.Dimmuborgir lies within this protected area. The soil conser-vation Service now has responsibility for the area togetherwith the Environment and Food Agency of Iceland and theSktustair local authorities.

Dimmuborgir is one of the most popular tourist attractions inthe Mvatn region, with over a 1000 visitors daily in the peak

summer period or a total of more than 50.000 visitors annual-ly, This influx of visitors is just as serious a threat to the veg-etation and lava formations as the earlier overgrazing and silt-ing. A number of walking paths have been laid out, togetherwith bridges and steps where needed. The paths take onearound Dimmuborgir and provide an excellent view of all themain attractions. Bear in mind that Dimmuborgir area is oneof the driest in Iceland.

The soil is particularly sensitive to wind erosion and rocks arebrittle and fragile.

Please help us to protect Dimmuborgir, by complying with thefollowing instructions:Kepp to officially marked paths. This ensures not gettinglost, vegetacion is not at risk and unnecessary tracks are elim-inated. If you do get lost, do not leave the fenced-in area. Onthe fence are arrows at short intervals pointing you in thedirection of the entrance.Do not climb the cliffs. The rock is soft and liable to breakand vegetation is threatened.Do not enter roped-in areas. These are marked off to pro-tect especially sensitive vegetation and allow scarred areas toheal.Put all litter into litter bins. They are to be found at theentrance and at Hallarflt. Bear in mind that cigarette stubsare also litter.There are no tourist facilities (toilets, etc.) in Dimmuborgirand tourists are asked to keep this in mind before visiting thearea.

Enjoy the spectacular scenery of Dimmuborgir in a way thatpreserves it for later visitors.

Gatklettur

Hallarflt