LAKI CRATERS: THRILLING Iceland Road Trip ACROSS a VULCANIC SYSTEM

LAKI CRATERS: THRILLING Iceland Road Trip ACROSS a VULCANIC SYSTEM

One of the most adventurous roads in the country. An area that has been hit by one of the most massive volcanic eruptions in the last centuries. Hikes through craters, water crossing through volcanic fields. If you are looking for a big adventure in Iceland, do a trip to the Laki craters. It is day two of our little off-road excursion with the car, and our first destination today is the so-called Laki craters, which is supposed to be a very nice drive and up there as well, ooh, very nice views and history. There is only one road that leads to Laki,

And we actually had stayed very close to it. Start the night before at the fantastic Magma Hotel. The Route F206 is just Route 206 for about 15 kilometers when you turn onto it from the Ring Road before it becomes an off-road trail near the Fagrifoss waterfall.

So Google says the road ends kind of here, which, of course, is not true, as you can see, This is where things start to get interesting and where you will also meet your first water crossing of the day, a pretty easy one though due to low water. So the first part of the drive to the Laki craters for us spoiled long-term Iceland visitors was not as exciting, but now here up the mountain, it’s actually getting very pretty, super nice colors and very nice views on the glacier and on this volcanic landscape. At one point, you enter Vatnajokull National Park. Vatnajokull is not only the biggest glacier in Europe, but the park also covers 13% of Iceland and is one of the biggest national parks in all of Europe. And the Laki craters are situated on the western edge of the glacier. Very windy.

We arrived at the Laki Ranger Station now, here, and we’re the only ones here besides of one ranger. And there are two hikes that start from here. One that goes up on Mount Laki, which is like one and a half hours, and then a shorter one, which is like a information trail hike,

Which we’re gonna do now. And afterwards, we will decide about Mount Laki. The Laki Visitor Trail tells the story of the catastrophic Laki fires eruption in 1783 and 1784, and informs visitors about the natural environment of the Lakagigar craters. And the trail passes right through one of the craters. Some information on the visitor trail. At the start of the visitor trail, you can pick up a guide leaflet and at numbered posts along the route, you can read a brief story or text in the leaflet about the Laki natural phenomenons. If you want to get a 360 degrees view

On the volcanic craters, you can hike to the top of Mount Laki, which will take you about one and a half hours in total. You can look at the breathtaking row of craters from small 200-year-old eruptions that basically stretch to the horizon, a view you will never forget.

So this, I guess is what you can call a pretty nice view (indistinct). So beautiful. Around 230 years ago here at Laki, fire fountains erupted with loud explosions. Flowing lava flowed all the way to the coast. The eruptions’ influence reached far beyond Iceland’s shores and even changed the history of mankind. The Skaftereldar eruption of Laki is also called the Skaftar fires, and began in 1783

And lasted until 1784. It was one of the most consequential events in Iceland. The ash cloud it produced was so dense that it made ports too unsafe to access or leave, halting essential trade routes around Europe. Poisons in the ash entered the soil via rain. Crops were destroyed

And livestock died across the continent with effects also being fed in North Africa and Asia. It caused a particularly devastating famine in Egypt. In Iceland itself, it led to the death of over 50% of Iceland’s livestock population and the destruction of the vast majority of all crops.

The following famine killed approximately a quarter of Iceland’s human population. 1/3 of the population had to leave Iceland due to the shortness of resources and food. The Laki eruption and its aftermath also caused a drop in global temperatures due to the 120 million tons of sulfur dioxide

That were spewed into the northern hemisphere. From the ranger station, you are continuing driving on Route F207, which is a one-way loop road. It adds 30 kilometers of rough trek to your itinerary, but the scenic detour takes you right up to the volcanoes and craters. A little further down the F207 lies Lambavatn,

A large, bright blue lake in a surreal volcanic landscape. Second little walk of the day. We go to a little crater lake that’s supposed to be pretty close to the parking here. This is one of the best places on the whole loop that is also available to handicap people due

To the wooden planks. The crater Tjarnargigur, translated Pond Crater, is one of the many craters created in the infamous 1783-1784 eruption. Due to the young geological age of Tjarnargigur, the whole area around the crater is very sensitive, mainly consisting of lava and moss and the little things that bloom

In the surrounding feel very precious. So smooth here all of a sudden. This drive right along the craters was my favorite part of the whole trip. It continues over beautiful black lava fields with green moss. This is where you can feel how majestic nature is, how wild our Earth with its heart of fire is. There are actually a few deeper border crossings along the Laki crater route, but the F207 loop ends with an infamous fjord crossing, the deepest and most difficult in the whole circuit. If conditions are not ideal, it’s very hard and sometimes even impossible to cross. That’s why you always have to inform yourself

Before heading on the Laki Loop Road. You can actually see videos on YouTube where people drowned their cars at exactly this crossing, but mainly because they drove through it too fast, not because it was too deep. Most of the time in summer, classic rental 4×4 or SUV-type vehicles can cross this fjord

Without any problems. If you adjust your speed, inform yourself on how to cross rivers before doing so and do nothing stupid. And now we’re back on the Road 206 that we came from. Calculate about six hours of driving time for the whole Laki tour. If you are like us and like to stop often, do little hikes or any other excursion, this can take a whole day. But for us, it turned out

That this day was far from being over. When we stopped at a petrol station after finishing the Laki route in the afternoon, we got some exciting news. So we just finished our route from the Laki craters and we’re going to the next route now that we actually,

I don’t know, we were thinking about doing it today, tomorrow, but we just got the news that a volcano here on Iceland erupted. So we are thinking about going back to Reykjavik more quick because maybe we can watch this volcano erupting. Guys, can you believe it?

Next week, we will already celebrate the grand finale of the Iceland trip. There is one big adventure still waiting for us, and in my opinion, it is the most beautiful, difficult, and spectacular part of the whole trip. Tune in the next Thursday to find out if you agree with me

And leave a comment and thumbs up for the Laki craters. See you next week for our GOT2GO finale of the Iceland Unlimited adventure.

Join our trip to the Laki Craters – one of the most adventurous roads in Iceland.
An area, that has been hit by one of the most massive volcanic eruptions in the last centuries. Hikes through craters, water crossing through volcanic fields. If you are looking for a big adventure in Iceland, join our trip to the Laki Craters.

00:00 Intro to the Laki Craters
00:59 Starting the Laki Road Trip on Route 206
01:38 Route F206 and Vatnajökull National Park
02:56 Laki Ranger Station, Laki Visitor Trail & Hike on Mt. Laki
05:09 Lakagígar Information about the Vulcanic Erruption
06:48 F207 Laki Loop Route with Lakes and Crater Lakes
09:31 Watercrossing Laki Route
10:36 End of the day at the Laki Craters / Information about lenght of the track

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