For much of the South coast of Iceland, we started to stray from our itinerary and became increasingly flexible with sites we would see, and campsites we would stay at. This actually worked out quite well, especially given it is impossible to plan everything out in Iceland as you will constantly run into new things to see and do that you may not have discovered through research for visiting. We discovered the campground at Skaftafell National Park this way, and it was quite a beautiful stay!!

We found ourselves in the late evening with the plan to go see Svartifoss – a waterfall surrounded by dark basalt columns, lending themselves to the other name the falls go by – the Black Falls. Upon arrival to the trail head, we found ourselves in a parking lot with a visitor center. It was also the first time we saw any police presence outside of Akureyri and Reykjavik (not that it matters, but it was interesting to see). 

It turns out, right down the road is a nice campground.

We decided given that it was already pretty late in the day, and a hike to Svartifoss was at least 30 minutes one way, we may as well set up camp here. We checked in, and while the campground is fairly expensive – with added cost of 500 ISK per person for 5 minutes of hot water for a shower, it has really convenient access to the trail and just worked for our needs nicely. There is also a good amount of space, and it was not overcrowded, which made the return from hiking easier to jump right into cooking a quick dinner.

The actual facilities are quite good, though nothing astonishingly wonderful like Hamrar Campground. Still, there are no complaints to be had here! If you are in this Southern region of Iceland, this is a great accommodation, really enhanced by the views of snow capped mountains and glaciers, as well as the Svartifoss waterfall.