Baugasel Turf Farm Travel Guide

Baugasel is a restored turf farmhouse at the head of Barkárdalur, a deserted side valley of Hörgárdalur on the Troll Peninsula (Tröllaskagi), west of Akureyri in North Iceland.

The ending *-sel* marks a former shieling, or summer dairy farm, which is how many remote Icelandic farms began. The last family left Baugasel in 1965.

Since 1981 the local touring club Ferðafélagið Hörgur has kept the house standing and runs it as a simple, always-open hikers' hut.

Key Takeaways About Baugasel

• Restored turf farmhouse at the head of Barkárdalur, Tröllaskagi, about 24 km west of Akureyri; last inhabited in 1965
• Kept since 1981 by the touring club Ferðafélagið Hörgur as an unlocked, unstaffed hut sleeping 4–6; re-roofed and repaired in 2024
• Reach Bugur farm on Staðarbakkavegur (Route 814), then 7 km of 4x4 track with a river ford, or a 12–13 km return walk with 80 m of ascent
• No sun reaches the farm from 4 October to 8 March (157 days); no water tap, phone coverage or fee
• Visited on a 3-hour private super jeep tour from Akureyri port

Why visit Baugasel

Most turf houses you can visit in Iceland are museums with opening hours and tickets. Baugasel turf farm is different. It stands alone about 7 km up an empty valley, there is no warden, and the door is open to anyone who walks or drives in.

The house is a classic small North Icelandic turf farm: two white timber gables with green trim face the valley, and behind them the rooms are built of turf and stone, with grass growing on the roofs. Inside there was an entrance passage, store rooms, a kitchen, a cowshed and the baðstofa, the communal living and sleeping room.

The baðstofa was originally just over 4 metres long and was later extended to about 7.5 metres. A separate timber house built in the farm's last years, 1957 to 1965, was removed when the farm was abandoned, so what you see today is the older turf core.

The last residents were Friðfinnur Sigtryggsson and Una Zóphoníasdóttir, who moved here in 1930 and lived here until the farm was abandoned. Their son Friðfinnur and his wife Jórunn Ragnarsdóttir farmed here from 1957 until the family left in 1965.

Baugasel is known locally for its darkness. The mountains around the valley are so high (Baugaselsfjall, rising directly behind the farm to the north, is well over 1,100 metres) that the sun does not clear the ridges from 4 October to 8 March, 157 days a year.

Ferðafélagið Hörgur began turning the house into a hikers' hut in 1981. Members repainted the gables and re-panelled the baðstofa in the 1980s, and in 2024 the roof was replaced, turf walls repaired, windows and woodwork restored and the exterior repainted, with grants from Iceland's heritage conservation and tourist-site development funds.

How to get to Baugasel

Baugasel is about 24 km west of Akureyri in a straight line and roughly 370 km from Reykjavík by the Ring Road (Route 1) and the Hörgárdalur side road, a drive of about five hours.

From Akureyri follow Route 1 north along Eyjafjörður and west into Hörgárdalur. Where the Ring Road climbs away into Öxnadalur, minor gravel roads continue up Hörgárdalur: Hörgárdalsvegur (Route 815) on the north bank and Staðarbakkavegur (Route 814) on the south bank. Take Staðarbakkavegur (Route 814) to Bugur, the farm at the mouth of Barkárdalur in the inner valley.

From Bugur a jeep trail leads about 7 km up Barkárdalur to Baugasel. The trail fords the river Barká and is only for modified 4x4 vehicles driven by people who know it. Everyone else walks: 12 to 13 km there and back along the river with about 80 metres of ascent, a comfortable four-hour round trip.

Park at Bugur without blocking farm access. Ask at the farm if in doubt.

Best time to visit

• Late June to September: snow-free trail, green valley, river usually at its most predictable.
• February to April: Ferðafélag Akureyrar and Ferðafélagið Hörgur run guided ski and walking trips to Baugasel. In settled weather it is an easy ski tour with little climbing.
• October to early March: no direct sun reaches the farm. Visiting is possible but cold and dim.

Safety and practical tips

• The hut sleeps four to six people and has an outdoor toilet but no running water; fetch water from the stream nearby. There is no warden and no booking system. Payment details are posted inside the baðstofa; pay what is asked, the money maintains the house.
• Leave the house as you found it, close doors firmly against the weather, and do not climb on the turf roofs or walls.
• Do not attempt to ford the Barká in a normal car or on foot when it is high. In winter the crossing is sometimes on snow or ice and is for experienced local drivers only.
• There is no mobile coverage you can count on in the valley. Check the forecast on vedur.is, register your trip at safetravel.is and carry warm, windproof clothing even in July.
• Admission is free. For conditions or group visits, contact Ferðafélagið Hörgur through the Baugasel hut page on fi.is (Ferðafélag Íslands).