"A new fissure opened up in Almannagjá." Top 5 Page for this destination Þingvellir Warnings Or Dangers Tip by Regina1965

Almannagjá Gorge is now closed to public, i.e. the southern most part of it - due to the ground caving in and a big hole/fissure appearing on the path. First a small hole appeared on the 31st of March 2011 and then underneath it a fissure, 10-14 meters deep and in parts 4 meters wide :( It was repaired temporarily by putting a plank on it, but when I visited in September 2011 this part of Almannagjá Gorge had been closed to public.

Thank God that nobody was hurt, as we had no idea there was a fissure beneath the path. And it seems like people have been walking there on a thin layer of sand for some time! They closed part of it, so now there is no walking from the "Hakið", see my tip, and down Almannagjá Gorge. They are trying to fix it somehow, but I think that nobody knows what to do with it. When I last visited there were some workers there with a tractor. One suggestion is to fill it with sand, but a gigantic amount of sand will be needed to fill up the fissure. Building a bridge over the fissure is another suggestion... another suggestion is to close it with steel sheets and cover it with sand.

The most likely reason for this is that something shifted there in the earthquakes in 2000 and 2008 and then the spring melt made it worse.