Sel
Selbær farm was originally built around 1832 but the farm that now stands there was constructed in 1912, and it is a good indication of how most farms that were built in the Öræfi area until the 1920s. The farm is one of three homesteads that were built on Skaftafellsheiði following the displacement of the river Skeiðará that resulted in the ruin of farmsteads under the hills where the Skaftafellsbær farm had stood since the Age of Settlement. Farming at Sel was discontinued in 1946 and the last residents there were Runólfur Bjarnason and Ólöf Sigurðardóttir. Today the farm is under the care of the National Museum of Iceland, having been rebuilt in the 1970s.
Sel has a cow barn on the ground floor while the living quarters are on the floor above. This allowed the residents to benefit from the warmth that emanated from the cows. Skaftafell County was among the places in Iceland where such living arrangements persisted the longest.
Visitors are invited to show consideration when inside the farm, and not to walk on the roof.
Gönguleiðir
Svartifoss - Sjónarsker - Sel
Svartifoss with its beautiful columnar rocks is one of the highlights of Skaftafell, but the path through the forest offers a unique experience at any time of the year. On the way you can admire Hundafoss and Magnúsarfoss, from Sjónskeri the views are wide to all directions in good visibility and the old sod house in Sel.
Gömlutún - Visitor trail
There is a visitor trail through Gömlutún, which is at the bottom of Skaftafellsheiði. Five interpretation signs have been installed there. You can learn about the history of the area and how life was in Öræfi as welll as the effect of glacial rivers and volcanic eruptions on the history of living in Öræfi.
