Matkaopas: Frostastaðavatn

Frostastaðavatn is a lake in the southern region of the Highlands of Iceland. Its shores are accessible via the Highland routes of the F208 and F205, and only in a four-wheel-drive in summer.

Explore a wide range of tours of the Highlands.

Photo from Wikimedia, Creative Commons by Gestumblindi. No edits made.

Geography of Frostastaðavatn

Frostastaðavatn is located in a highly volcanic area. Minerals from past eruptions and current geothermal activity often provide parts of the lake with vivid blue or green colouration, due to the elements brought up from the core of the earth.

The lake is close to many beautiful highland areas. Most notable amongst these is Landmannalaugar, a spectacular Highland area best renowned for its colourful, rhyolite mountains and abundance of hot springs that you can bathe it. This region is one of the starting points of the Laugavegur Highland Route, and often visited taking the multi-day trek. It is also visited on other hiking tours and some super jeep excursions.

Frostastaðavarn is also close to one of the country’s most notorious and explosive volcanoes, Hekla. Still active, it has erupted up to thirty times since settlement, with various degrees of damage. In 1104, the eruption affected the weather across Europe, and subsequently the success of agriculture, for years. It has since been nicknamed ‘the Gateway to Hell’.

The lake is approximately 2.6 square kilometres and an elevation of 572 metres above sea level. Its wildlife is diverse, with a wealth of birdlife nesting in the area. The waters themselves are pregnant with Arctic Char, one of the most common species of fish in the country’s freshwater.

Due to its elevation and the colourful rhyolite mountains that surround it, visitors will find themselves privy to some incredible views over Iceland’s interior. The Highlands, due to how hard they are to get into and the few months of the year they are accessible, have some of Iceland’s most magnificent but little-seen landscapes.