Tjarnagigur (Tjarnagígur) Crater Lake at the Laki Craters
Tjarnagigur (Tjarnagígur) Crater Lake at the Laki Craters
Duration: 2 hours. Difficulty: an easy hike through lava to one of the most beautiful of Laki’s craters which has a lake. Interest: craters and lava – lots of it! Start/End: the walk starts from the second car park, which is about 5km further on from the car park at the foot of Laki Mountain.
From the car park, take the marked trail to Tjarnagigur, the lake-filled crater. Then follow the trail around through what is clearly a lava channel, almost like the course of a river, until you reach a second larger ash cone. From here the trail continues to the road and another car park. By turning right onto the dirt road you can return to your car. Alternatively, return by the same path.
The Laki chain of 100 craters was formed along a 25km fissure in one of the most powerful eruptions on earth in historical times. The 1783 eruption lasted seven months and left much of Iceland shrouded in a cloud of toxic gases. In the famine that followed, one-fifth of Icelanders perished. The lava flows from the craters spread out on the coastal plain, forming the 565 sq km Eldhraun lava.