Enter the Ravine of the Sacred Tree

Confession: I haven´t really been all the way up the Ravine of Nauthúsagil, but this is a destination that I wanted to let you all hikers know about sooner rather than later.

In any case, I am hoping to be there soon again and go all the way to the end of this ravine. Anyway, I discovered the Nauthúsagil ravine when driving with my wife the other day in the south of Iceland. As we were staying in the best luxury hotel in Iceland, Hótel Rangá,  for her birthday, we weren´t really dressed for a hike. That didn´t stop us from taking a drive. Our destination was really Seljalandsfoss waterfall. When we got there, we wanted to venture a bit further. The weather was being its usual Icelandic schizophrenic self; it had been raining hard in the south of Iceland, but for the time being, it was dry. However, the sun was playing hide and seek, and there was a refreshing breeze.  We were driving towards Þórsmörk forest, which we would never reach on our Toyota Yaris (now for sale), since it is tucked away behind the ever-changing Krossá river* We noticed a sign marked “Nauthúsagil” which intrigued us. We took a look around and saw this rather nice ravine on a hill covered in vegetation.

We parked our trusty Toyota right next to a jeep and got out. My wife was wearing heels, but nothing stopped her when she wanted to go exploring, so I did my best to follow her and lend a hand as we crossed the shallow stream that runs from the ravine. On the way, we met two gentlemen who, in German-accented English, informed us that a storm was coming and that we should be careful. They backed up this claim by pointing to clouds over the hill. We assured those rather nice amateur meteorologists that we would not stay long and certainly not take any unnecessary risks. So after a short walk, we entered the ravine, which is like a whole world unto itself. A stream runs along the bottom of the ravine, so if you want to follow, you need to be prepared to wade, but it seems to me that it should be really easy to do. Apparently, there is some climbing involved if you want to go further, but it is supposed to be really easy. I have not verified this for myself.

The ravine has a bit of a history to it. Nauthúsagil basically means the ravine of the bull-house and probably derives from bulls from the nearby farm of Stóra Mörk being kept close to the site. It was well known, at least locally, for having a sacred rowan tree, and it was strictly forbidden to cut it down. It split and fell in 1937, but now its descendants dominate the ravine, so I suppose it is all very holy even now 🙂 I am sure to revisit this gem of a destination and explore it to the fullest. I will keep you posted.

How to get there?
From Reykjavik, drive south on Highway 1 until you reach the Seljalandsfoss waterfall and Gljúfrabúi. Drive past them until you see the sign to Nauthúsagil. Here are the GPS points from my short walk if that helps.

* Please don´t try to prove me wrong. It would be plain stupid to try. If you want to go into Þórsmörk, take the bus or go with somebody in a big ass jeep and know what she is doing.