The TREASURES of Egilsstaðir Area

The Pearls of Fljótsdalshérað

The Pearls of Fljótsdalshérað is the name chosen for twenty eight carefully selected walking trails and treasured destinations in the municipalities of Fljótsdalshérað and Fljótsdalshreppur. The premises of the area covers about 10% of Iceland. The destinations for the Pearl hikes vary from those leading to waterfalls, lakes, creeks, canyons, small caves and inlets by the sea side. Yet, most of the trails include mountain tracks and peaks with a great view. The Local Touring Club in Fljótsdalshérað has contributed most of the effort and information to this selection of hiking trails.

Hiking lottery
At each destination a tubular container or cylinder holds information on the site, a visitors’ log to sign and a unique stamp made for each location or Pearl. Hikers can buy specially made cards to bring along on their hike and are for stamping at each destination. Those can be bought in numerous places such as at the Information Centre in Egilsstaðir, at the office of Local Touring Club in Tjarnarás 8, 700 Egilsstadir and in the reception office of Austurför by the camping area or from your local tour guide. That is how hikers can document their arrival to the sites, enter a lottery and possibly win rewards. However, one must have stamps from at least nine destinations to enter. Hikers can hand in or send their stamped cards to the office of the Local Touring Club or leave with their tour guides. The draw is in September.

Hiking Trails
The hiking trails offer a great variety in landscape and length. Some take only an hour to hike while other walks take a whole day. Most of them are a fairly easy walks or medium level while in some instances one needs selected equipment for the more difficult walks – especially in the winter. This booklet contains a description of each trail and an estimated of length and level of difficulty in normal circumstances. The time estimate includes the walk towards each destination and return to starting point. The GPS co-ordinates refer to the location of the cylinder at each destination unless otherwise mentioned.

All visitors of The Pearls of Fljótsdalshérað are asked to respect its delicate and precious nature when travelling in the area. According to our legislation on the reservation of nature, all people can travel across and dwell on land untouched by farming or private residence without special permit. Do keep in mind the landowners’ wishes, walk along marked trails and respect farmers right regarding domestic animals and land for harvesting. Do remember to close gates and be careful with fences.
Do leave information about your planned hike, about your plan B, should problems arise, and about your approximate time of return. Try to get in touch if a change of plan occurs.

We leave each destination as we would like to find them.
We do not leave or bury trash – we put it in provided bins or bring it with us to town. Please do not put trash in the cylinders or stamp in the visitors logs.We do not light fires on undergrowth.
We do not tear up rocks or stones, do not build rock piles.
We do not spoil water or springs.
We do not disturb vegetation.
We do not disturb wildlife.
We do not spoil the ground.
We do not disturb the stillness in the wild.
We do not drive off-road.
We do follow marked trails.