Mývatn

About Mývatn

Mývatn is a shallow lake in North Iceland ringed by craters, lava pillars and steaming vents, a little over an hour's drive east of Akureyri on the Ring Road. Lake Mývatn covers about 37 square kilometers, yet its average depth is only 2.5 meters, and roughly 50 islands and islets break up the surface. The name means midge lake, after the clouds of tiny flies that hatch here every summer.

Those midges feed the whole ecosystem. Larvae carpet the sunlit lake bed, fish and birds eat them, and more species of duck live here than anywhere else on Earth. Because of that, the lake and the Laxá river are protected by law and listed as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention.

Most of what there is to do in Mývatn sits within a short drive of the shore. On the south side, the Skútustaðagígar pseudocraters have easy marked paths, while the east side has the lava formations at Dimmuborgir, the tephra crater Hverfjall and the cave Grjótagjá. A few minutes east of the village of Reykjahlíð are the mud pots of Námaskarð, the Krafla volcanic area and Earth Lagoon Mývatn, the geothermal baths formerly known as Mývatn Nature Baths.

Route 1 runs along the north shore and stays open year-round, though winter storms can close nearby mountain stretches, so check the official road-conditions map before driving. June to August brings the most birds, long daylight and the midges (a head net helps on calm days), while winter swaps the flies for snow on the lava and a chance of northern lights. Plan on at least one full day, and stay two nights if you want time for the baths and a sunset walk.