Thorsmork Jeep Day tour from Stracta Hotel
Gígjökull glacier
Thorsmork Jeep day tour is an exciting and unforgettable day tour, bringing you good memories of Iceland´s nature. Thorsmork is, from a natural perspective, one of Iceland´s highlights, and therefore a very popular hiking area. It’s not easy to get there due to hardly existing roads and unbridged rivers. Therefore, a four wheel drive vehicle is an absolute necessity.
Urriðafoss waterfall
Firstly the day will start with driving to the waterfall Urridafoss. Urriðafoss is a waterfall located in the river Þjórsá, in southwest Iceland, and is the watermost waterfall in Iceland. In the early days of power companies, plans were to build a power plant in Urriðafoss and make a railway to Reykjavík from the waterfall. However, that did not happen, but now Landsvirkjun is planning to build hydropower stations on the lower part of Þjórsár river, at Urriðafoss and Núpur. Urriðafoss proposed Power Plant is expected to have a capacity of approximately 125 MW and for this reason a power-generating capacity of 930 GWh per year. The powerhouse will be underground and a tunnel leading from the powerhouse will open to that end out into the Þjórsá River, below Urriðafoss waterfall and therefore the waterfall is expected to disappear.
Lava centre:
Lava exhibition
Secondly we drive towards east and through the historical area Rangarvallasysla, the setting of the medieval saga Njalssaga. Furthermore we drive to The Lava Centre in Hvolsvollur. The Lava Centre is an interactive, high-tech educational exhibition depicting volcanic activity beside earthquakes and the creation of Iceland over millions of years. We can examine the various volcanos eruptions and lava flows, volcanic and rift systems, faults and glacial floods that make Iceland a showcase of volcanism. The centre introduces the Katla Geopark plus Iceland’s elaborate monitoring system for in fact surveying volcanos and earthquake zones.
Seljalandsfoss waterfall:
Seljalandsfoss waterfall
Thirdly we will drive to Seljalandsfoss, a beautiful, high waterfall we surprisingly can walk behind and into a small cave. The waterfall drops 60 m (197 ft) and is part of the Seljalands River that has its origin in the volcano glacier Eyjafjallajökull.
Gígjökull glacier:
From now we will be driving over small rivers and creeks towards our next destination Gígjokull. There used to be the glacier lagoon at Gigjokull but after the volcano eruption in Eyjafjallajokull 2010 it was wiped away in melt water flood during the eruption.
Thorsmork:
When we arrive at Thorsmork we can hike through the diverse landscape at the glaciers´ roots.
Stakkholtsgjá canyon:
Stakkholtsgjá canyon
From Thorsmork we head back the same road and stop at Stakkholtsgja canyon for a short while.
Nauthúsagil canyon:
At last we walk into Nauthúsagil canyon. Adventure hike into narrow canyon where small waterfall is far inside.
Thorsmork Jeep day tour is a tour that we highly recommend for nature lovers.
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Season: From 1st of May until 30th of October
Days of week: Every day up on request
Departure: 9:00am
Duration: 8 to 10 hours
What to bring: Clothes and shoes according to weather
Prices
From Stracta Hotel
Price per person= 39.000 ISK
3 pax or more, 10% discount
Min 2 persons in tour
Refreshments not included.
Lava Centre admission not included
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Highlights of this tour:
» Urriðafoss waterfall
» Lava Centre
» Seljalandsfoss waterfall
» Gigjokull glacier
» Thorsmork
» Stakkholtsgja canyon
» Nauthusagil canyon
