Walking paths in the Leirhnjúkur lava field and geothermal area, north-west of the volcano Krafla in North-Eastern Iceland, are in dire need for repairs and are in places posing serious hazards to hikers. Disagreement among landowners prevent necessary maintenance from being carried out.
Rugged and steaming hot
Leirhnjúkur is a large lava field which has been formed in several recent eruptions, the last one in the Krafla Fires, an eruption which lasted from 1977 to 1984. This most recent eruption produced a spectacular and rugged black lava field which is still steaming hot in many places, thirty years after the eruption ended. The rugged lava and geothermal activity make it both dangerous and difficult to cross.
Yngvi Ragnar Kristjánsson, the Oddviti (the highest ranking official) of the municipality of Skútustaðahreppur, told the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service that the reason for the lack of maintenance is due to the fact that the landowners cannot come to an agreement on who is responsible for maintaining the paths and other facilities for travellers, including the public bathrooms.
Disagreement over entrance fees creates hazards for hikers
Landsvirkjun, the National Power Company of Iceland and the Icelandic Tourist Board constructed the paths around Leirhnjúkur as well as public toilets by the parking lot at the Krafla power station, and paid for the maintenance of the paths in 2005-2011. Since then the Association of landowners and the municipality of Skútustaðahreppur have received public funding to add to the paths and pay for their maintenance.
Read more: Dispute regarding entrance fees rages on
Last year some of the landowners began charging an entry fee to the area, but were stopped after other members of the seventeen member local association of landowners sued for the fee to be banned. The District Court of Reykjavík ruled that the fee was illegal. The case is currently on the docket of the Supreme Court.
Walking paths in the Leirhnjúkur lava field and geothermal area, north-west of the volcano Krafla in North-Eastern Iceland, are in dire need for repairs and are in places posing serious hazards to hikers. Disagreement among landowners prevent necessary maintenance from being carried out.
Rugged and steaming hot
Leirhnjúkur is a large lava field which has been formed in several recent eruptions, the last one in the Krafla Fires, an eruption which lasted from 1977 to 1984. This most recent eruption produced a spectacular and rugged black lava field which is still steaming hot in many places, thirty years after the eruption ended. The rugged lava and geothermal activity make it both dangerous and difficult to cross.
Yngvi Ragnar Kristjánsson, the Oddviti (the highest ranking official) of the municipality of Skútustaðahreppur, told the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service that the reason for the lack of maintenance is due to the fact that the landowners cannot come to an agreement on who is responsible for maintaining the paths and other facilities for travellers, including the public bathrooms.
Disagreement over entrance fees creates hazards for hikers
Landsvirkjun, the National Power Company of Iceland and the Icelandic Tourist Board constructed the paths around Leirhnjúkur as well as public toilets by the parking lot at the Krafla power station, and paid for the maintenance of the paths in 2005-2011. Since then the Association of landowners and the municipality of Skútustaðahreppur have received public funding to add to the paths and pay for their maintenance.
Read more: Dispute regarding entrance fees rages on
Last year some of the landowners began charging an entry fee to the area, but were stopped after other members of the seventeen member local association of landowners sued for the fee to be banned. The District Court of Reykjavík ruled that the fee was illegal. The case is currently on the docket of the Supreme Court.
