Sólheimajökull glacier in south coast of Iceland

Sólheimajökull is one of the easiest places in Iceland to see how little about a glacier is actually permanent. The glacier descends from the southwestern side of Mýrdalsjökull towards Sólheimasandur, reaching far enough into the lowlands that visitors can approach its front without travelling into the highlands.

That accessibility can be deceptive. The ice is moving. The glacier is retreating. Lagoons are forming and expanding in front of it. Ground that was once supported by ice is being exposed, and routes used to reach the glacier can change as the landscape changes.

During the summer of 2026, those changes became particularly dramatic. A new lagoon formed east of the glacier tongue, an ice ridge used to approach the glacier became unstable, and new warnings were issued about deep water, unstable ice, quicksand and rockfall.

Sólheimajökull has always moved. What has changed is how quickly visitors can now see the consequences.

The crawling glacier

People were trying to understand the movement of Icelandic glaciers centuries before modern glaciology existed. Þórður Vídalín described moving or “crawling” glaciers in the late 17th century, observing that glaciers could advance and retreat independently of the ordinary change from summer to winter.

The same phenomenon later appeared in the travel writings of Eggert Ólafsson and Bjarni Pálsson. Eggert used the idea of a crawling glacier and believed the phenomenon was peculiar to Iceland. We now know otherwise.

All glaciers move under their own weight. Snow accumulating higher on the ice cap gradually compacts into ice. Gravity pulls that ice downhill, while melting removes ice farther down the glacier.

A glacier advances when the supply and movement of ice towards its front exceed the amount lost through melting and other processes. It retreats when loss exceeds replacement.

Retreat therefore does not mean that the glacier has stopped moving downhill. The ice is still moving. Its front is simply disappearing faster than new ice can replace it.

Sólheimajökull makes that process unusually easy to see.

Retreat has changed the landscape

Sólheimajökull has not retreated continuously in one direction throughout its recorded history. During much of the 20th century the glacier front moved backwards considerably. A cooler period later allowed it to advance again for several decades before substantial retreat resumed from the 1990s onward.

Older versions of this page attempted to describe that change through a collection of retreat distances, glacier dimensions and national climate statistics. Those figures quickly became outdated.

The more important story can now be seen directly in the landscape. Places once occupied by thick glacier ice are now open ground and water. The distance between the fixed access area and the glacier has increased. A proglacial lagoon developed in front of the ice and has continued to change as the glacier retreats.

Newly exposed slopes and sediment can remain unstable long after the glacier itself has moved away. Sólheimajökull is therefore not simply becoming smaller. The whole landscape at its margin is being reorganised.

The dramatic changes of summer 2026

In July 2026, the Icelandic Meteorological Office drew attention to unusually rapid changes at the margin of Sólheimajökull. A new small lagoon had formed east of the glacier tongue.

Between this new lagoon and the larger proglacial lake, an ice ridge provided a connection towards the glacier. Melting and calving had thinned that ridge and made it unstable.

The problem was not theoretical. If the ridge failed beneath someone, they could fall or slide into deep, extremely cold glacial water. Tour operators cancelled glacier trips as a precaution while safer access routes were assessed.

At the same time, another hazard had developed along the southeastern approach. As the glacier has retreated, slopes once supported by ice have been exposed. Rockfall from Jökulhaus, above the access route, can reach substantial parts of the trail, particularly during heavy rain or rapid changes in temperature.

These conditions demonstrate why a fixed description of “the route to the glacier” is increasingly unreliable at Sólheimajökull. A path or ice feature that was usable during one season may not remain usable the next.

Lagoons, quicksand and unstable ground

The water in front of Sólheimajökull has become a central part of the landscape. It is also part of the hazard.

Visitors should not assume that the ground beside a glacier lagoon is firm simply because it looks solid. As glaciers retreat, fine sediment saturated with meltwater can form quicksand around the glacier margin. This is now specifically included in official warnings about changing conditions at Icelandic glacier fronts.

The lagoon shoreline can also change as water levels, sediment and ice change. Calving ice can fall into the water without warning. Ice close to the shore may be detached from the main glacier or weakened internally even when the surface appears intact.

In summer 2026, SafeTravel specifically advised visitors to stay away from the glacier lagoons and unstable ice formations. The safest way to view this landscape is therefore not to test how close it is possible to get.

Stay on the recognised visitor route, follow current signs and treat newly exposed ground around the water with caution.

Seeing the glacier is not the same as walking on it

Sólheimajökull can be visited without going onto the glacier. That distinction matters. The landscape around the glacier, the lagoon, the exposed moraine and the ice front can all be seen from land.

Walking onto the glacier is different. Crevasses can be hidden or difficult to judge. Ice bridges weaken. Moulins open into the glacier. Seracs and ice walls collapse. Routes change continually.

Do not go onto Sólheimajökull without a qualified glacier guide and proper glacier equipment. Under the conditions that developed in July 2026, SafeTravel went further and advised against going onto the glacier while the unstable access situation remained unresolved.

Conditions can change from day to day, so current warnings matter more than any permanent description on this page.

Ice caves and other ice formations

Sólheimajökull frequently develops spectacular features within the ice. Crevasses open and close. Moulins carry meltwater down into the glacier. Arches and caves can form at or near the glacier margin.

None of them should be thought of as permanent attractions. An ice cave that exists today may be changed beyond recognition or completely gone after a short period. New ones may form elsewhere. Their stability also cannot be judged simply from appearance.

Any visit into an ice cave, crevasse or comparable feature at Sólheimajökull should therefore be part of a professionally guided glacier activity. The glacier decides what exists. Guides decide what is safe enough to approach on a particular day.

Visiting Sólheimajökull

Sólheimajökull is reached from Route 1 by turning onto Road 221. The road leads to the established visitor and parking area below the glacier. Parking is paid.

From there, a walking route leads towards the glacier and the lagoon landscape. No fixed distance to the glacier snout is given here. The glacier is retreating, the lagoons are changing and the practical approach has altered considerably over time.

The distance someone walked to reach the ice several years ago may bear little relation to what is possible now. Follow the current marked route and all signs at the site. Do not improvise a shortcut across newly exposed terrain or towards the ice.

Before visiting, check current safety information from SafeTravel and the Icelandic Meteorological Office, particularly if you intend to take part in a glacier activity.

Guided glacier walks operate from Sólheimajökull when conditions allow. The phrase “when conditions allow” matters here. The events of summer 2026 demonstrated that even established commercial glacier access can be interrupted when the ice and surrounding terrain change.

• Sólheimajökull is an outlet glacier of Mýrdalsjökull.
• Historical descriptions of Icelandic “crawling glaciers” appear in writings by Þórður Vídalín and later Eggert Ólafsson and Bjarni Pálsson.
• A retreating glacier can still be moving downhill; retreat occurs when ice is lost faster than it is replaced at the front.
• A proglacial lagoon has developed as Sólheimajökull has retreated.
• In July 2026, a new small lagoon formed east of the glacier tongue and an ice ridge between the lagoons became unstable.
• Glacier retreat has also exposed unstable slopes above parts of the approach route.
• Quicksand can form in water-saturated sediment close to retreating glacier margins.
• Ice caves, moulins, arches and crevasses at Sólheimajökull form and disappear continually.