- Year organised tours onto the glacier ended, according to the Icelandic Met Office
- 2018
- Rough volume of rock moving on the slope above the glacier
- 60 million m³
- Height of the cracked slope above the glacier surface
- 400 m
What it is, and what has changed
Svínafellsjökull is an outlet glacier of the Vatnajökull ice cap. It is the next tongue east of Skaftafellsjökull, and the park says the mountain Hafrafell marks the divide between the two. You will still find older articles describing walks on this glacier. Guided trips did run here, but they stopped in 2018, so those articles are out of date.
For a visitor, this is a short viewpoint stop, not a place to put on crampons. The reason to stop is a look at the ice tongue. If you want to get closer to a glacier front on a signed trail, the walk from the Skaftafell visitor centre, covered on our Skaftafellsjökull page, is the better option.
The rockslide warning
In autumn 2014 a crack was found on the slope east of the glacier. According to the Icelandic Met Office, it lies near the top of a steep slope about 400 m above the ice. A second crack appeared in spring 2018. The Met Office put the moving rock at roughly 60 million cubic metres, which could fall in one go or in several smaller slides. Such a slide can break up the ice and mix with meltwater to form fast debris flows.
The notice issued on 22 June 2018 by Civil Protection and its partners, including the national park, says the following:
- Civil Protection advises against travel on the glacier.
- Guided tours on the glacier are discouraged.
- Visitors should stop only briefly at viewpoints near the glacier tongue.
That notice shows no end date, so treat it as standing advice unless a newer one replaces it.
The Met Office published a fresh hazard assessment in June 2025, in Icelandic. It says organised tours used to run onto Svínafellsjökull but ended in 2018, and that organised tourism near the glacier and trips onto it do not meet the acceptable-risk criteria set in Icelandic regulations. It rates the risk to individual visitors as below the reference limit, though it still recommends warning signs. The most likely outcome is a slide that stops on the glacier without reaching the settled land below. A slide that reaches the glacier edge could cause floods in two rivers, and movement has been very small since instruments were installed.
Seeing the glacier
Icelandia, a tour company, describes a short detour from the Ring Road to a car park with views of the glacier tongue. That fits the brief-stop advice. We could not find an official distance or road description, so use a map or sat-nav for the turn-off.
The same company says guided activities here are suspended, which matches the Met Office report. Keep your stop short, stay at the viewpoint, and do not walk onto the ice.
Guided glacier hikes: where to go instead
Guided hikes around Skaftafell now use other tongues. The park lists Falljökull as a destination in Skaftafell, and the Falljökull hikes in our tour list are the ones to look at. Our glacier hikes page explains how to choose, and the ice caves page covers the winter season. Our tours page lists these trips through GetYourGuide, and we earn a commission on bookings.
SafeTravel is blunt about going alone. It says never to go on a glacier without experience and the proper equipment, that Icelandic glaciers are constantly moving, and that crevasses can open up with little warning. It highly recommends hiring a certified glacier guide.
Getting there from Skaftafell
Icelandia places the glacier just off the Ring Road near Skaftafell, and the park places it east of Skaftafellsjökull. Our getting there page covers Route 1 and the Skaftafell turn-off.
One practical tip: check before you go
The warnings come from authorities that update them, so read SafeTravel’s alerts and the park’s news page before you drive out, and see the Met Office’s 2018 notice for the original advice. If the weather is poor or an alert covers the area, skip the viewpoint. It is a stop worth making only in good conditions.
How it fits with a Svartifoss day
This is a quick add-on, not a half day. Do the waterfall first using our main Svartifoss guide, then decide whether you want a short look from the viewpoint here or the signed walk to Skaftafellsjökull from the visitor centre. The Svartifoss hike page has the main route.
