Vatnajökull National Park was founded on June 7th 2008, although the act on Vatnajökull National Park was entered into force on May 1st 2007. It is the largest national park in Iceland by far, 14,967 km2. Vatnajökull National Park was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on July 5th 2019. The boundary of Vatnajökull National Park, after its latest expansion on September 22nd 2021. The boundary is drawn in accordance to regulation on Vatnajökull National Park, No 300/2020, with later amendments. Disclaimer: If there is a difference between the data and the regulation text, then the regulation text applies. The data also includes all previous boundaries of the national park as well as current boundaries of operating areas.

This data includes all defined hiking trails within Vatnajökull National Park, and selected trails near the park. The trails are drawn from hiking maps that the park has published since it was founded in 2008. The maps have been updated regularly since, last update was in 2019, (Snæfell area and a large part of the western region). These hiking maps can be viewed by selecting “Hiking map, click on frame” in the Vatnajökull National Park Mapview, (see link below).

Boundaries of various areas within Vatnajökull National Park with special rules. 1. Esjufjöll, Jökulsárgljúfur, Skaftafell and Askja have special rules about camping restrictions, according to article 3, in regulation about Vatnajökull National Park, 300/2020. Coordinates are listed in table 2 in amendment IV in the regulation. 2. Hvannadalshnjúkur, Öræfajökull and Kverkfjöll have special limitations on, if and when motorized traffic is allowed. 3. Traditional land use areas are listed in article 26 of regulation about Vatnajökull National Park, 300/2020. Disclaimer: If there is a difference between the data and the regulation text, then the regulation text applies.