Hallormsstadur Forest

Hallormsstadaskogur covers the eastern slope above Lagarfljot and is the largest forest in a country that lost nearly all its woodland in the centuries after settlement. It was fenced and protected in 1905, one of the first such measures in Iceland, which is why native birch survived here at all. Since then it has doubled as an experiment: an arboretum was planted from the 1900s onward with species brought from around the northern hemisphere to find out what could handle Icelandic conditions, and around eighty of them are growing there. Marked walking trails run through the woods, a campsite sits by the lake, and the trees include some of the tallest in the country.

What you actually see

• The largest forest in Iceland - native birch that survived because it was fenced.
• Protected in 1905 - among the earliest conservation measures here.
• An arboretum of about eighty species - a century of trials from across the north.
• Marked trails and a lakeside campsite - the way most people use it.

When to go

June to September for leaf and open facilities. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Visitors from forested countries find the scale modest - the significance is national, not visual. Trails are muddy after rain. The campsite is busy in July. Midges gather near the lake in still weather.

Nearby

Hengifoss is across Lagarfljot; Egilsstadir is at the lake's north end.