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Iceland Iceland forest

Vaglaskógur

Axel Kristinsson · CC BY 2.0

4% trees around it and 294 species recorded.

45Forestyas Score

ForestFungi

  • trees within 3 km4%
  • wild within 10 km97%
  • species recorded294
  • Altitude236 m

The forest around

4% trees.

Read like the rings of a cut trunk: from the centre out, the land within 1, 3, 6 and 10 km, coloured by what covers it.

Trees 10%Shrubland 72%Grassland 13%Moss and lichen 3%Water 1%Cropland 0%Trees 3%Shrubland 24%Grassland 44%Moss and lichen 26%Water 1%Bare ground 2%Cropland 1%Trees 1%Shrubland 10%Grassland 55%Moss and lichen 28%Water 0%Bare ground 2%Snow and ice 0%Cropland 3%Trees 1%Shrubland 4%Grassland 38%Moss and lichen 29%Water 6%Bare ground 16%Snow and ice 1%Cropland 4%4%trees · 3 km

Trees, ring by ring

  • 0–1 km10%
  • 1–3 km3%
  • 3–6 km1%
  • 6–10 km1%

What covers the land (1–3 km)

  • Trees3%
  • Shrubland24%
  • Grassland44%
  • Moss and lichen26%
  • Water1%
  • Bare ground2%
  • Snow and ice0%
  • Cropland1%

ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m, from Sentinel satellites), sampled every 120 m. A clearing, a road or a lake counts as what it is.

Who lives here

294 species recorded.

The plants, fungi, birds and mammals people have recorded here most often.

Bearded wheatgrass
Bearded wheatgrassElymus caninus16 recordsDon Pedro28 · CC BY 3.0
Stone bramble
Stone brambleRubus saxatilis14 recordsIvar Leidus · CC BY-SA 4.0
Kinnikinnick
KinnikinnickArctostaphylos uva-ursi13 recordsWalter Siegmund · CC BY 2.5
Red fescue
Red fescueFestuca rubra12 recordsKristian Peters -- Fabelfroh 12:31, 9 September 2006 (UTC) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Sheathed sedge
Sheathed sedgeCarex vaginata12 recordsPetr Filippov · CC BY 3.0
Heath violet
Heath violetViola canina12 recordsCarl Axel Magnus Lindman · Public domain
Tufted Hair-grass
Tufted Hair-grassDeschampsia cespitosa12 recordsChristian Fischer · CC BY-SA 3.0
Brown Birch
Brown BirchBetula pubescens12 recordsDirk Ingo Franke · CC BY-SA 2.0
Frog orchid
Frog orchidDactylorhiza viridis11 recordsUnknown author · CC BY-SA 3.0
Wavy hair-grass
Wavy hair-grassAvenella flexuosa11 recordsBotaurus · Public domain
Common woodrush
Common woodrushLuzula multiflora10 recordsDaderot · Public domain
Wood bluegrass
Wood bluegrassPoa nemoralis10 recordsSarefo · CC BY-SA 3.0

Open records within 5 km (GBIF, licensed for any use). Busy places are better recorded than remote ones.

In numbers

The forest, measured.

45out of 100

Our own rating, from open data only: tree cover (40 points), wildness (20), species recorded (30) and protection or heritage (10).

  • 4%Treesof the land within 3 km
  • 97%Wildno towns or farmland within 10 km
  • 294Speciesrecorded more than once within 5 km
  • 236 mAltitudeabove the sea

When to walk

Best for walking from June to July.

How good each month is for a walk: mild days and little rain make the bar taller.

  1. Jan-4°-9°110 mm
  2. Feb-4°-9°96 mm
  3. Mar-3°-9°100 mm
  4. Apr0°-6°87 mm
  5. May2°-3°86 mm
  6. Jun8°2°71 mm
  7. Jul10°4°98 mm
  8. Aug8°3°104 mm
  9. Sep5°0°126 mm
  10. Oct0°-4°132 mm
  11. Nov-3°-8°125 mm
  12. Dec-4°-9°121 mm
  • Bar: walking comfort; the number on top is the average maximum.
  • Below: average minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
  • Rain: monthly total.

The place

Vaglaskógur.

Forest in Iceland

Vaglaskógur is a forest in Iceland, 236 m above the sea.

Seen from space, 4% of the land within 3 km is trees, and 97% of the land within 10 km has no towns or farmland.

294 species have been recorded around it: 152 plants, 109 fungi, 33 birds and 0 mammals.

The most recorded plants are: Bearded wheatgrass, Stone bramble and Kinnikinnick.

The best time to walk is from June to July.

Vaglaskógur Fnjóskadalur
Axel Kristinsson · CC BY 2.0

Get there and walk

Plan the visit

A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at AEY airport (Akureyri)Discover CarsSee prices 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above

The forest and its surroundings.

The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the trails, notable trees, picnic sites and huts that OpenStreetMap shows.

Vaglaskógur seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Seen from above: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6 × 6 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around, in OpenStreetMap

  • 12marked trails within 5 kmHálshnjúkur, Sheephouse circle, Forest path and 9 more
  • 3picnic sites within 4 km
  • 3viewpoints within 5 km
  • 4car parks within 3 km
  • 4campsites within 10 kmVaglaskógur Campsite, Systragil, Vaglaskógur and 1 more
  • 46places to stay within 10 kmLeifsstaðir, Bryggjan, Hótel Norðurland and 43 more
  • named and notable trees within 6 km
  • shelters and huts within 6 km
  • visitor centres within 6 km
  • restaurants and cafés within 3 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.

In our other atlases

Around Vaglaskógur.

The mountains, lakes, rivers, waterfalls and canyons around this forest, the viewpoints above it, the birds and the night sky, in the family's atlases.

Peakyas11 mountains within 25 km
Fornastaðafjall7.0 kmVesturfjall13 kmKinnarfell16 kmSellandsfjall17 kmSúlur1,213 m · 18 kmStaðarfjall19 kmHlíðarfjall1,100 m · 19 kmKerling1,538 m · 25 km
Islandyasthe island
Iceland102,775 km²
Lakeyas1 lakes within 15 km
Ljósavatn3.0 km² · 9.9 km
Darkskyas1 dark-sky places within 30 km
China-Iceland Arctic Science ObservatoryBortle 2 · 24 km
Riveryasthe river nearby
Fnjóská117 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Photographs

The forest, as people saw it.

Vaglaskógur
Axel Kristinsson from Reykjavík, Iceland · CC BY 2.0
Fnjóskárbrú (3863491388)
Bjarki Sigursveinsson from Ísafjörður, Iceland · CC BY-SA 2.0
Gamla bogabrúin á Fnjóská og Vaglaskógur
Skogarpesi · CC BY-SA 4.0

Other forests nearby.

Vaglaskógur

Iceland

  • 45Forestyas Score
  • 4%Trees
  • 97%Wild
  • 294Species

Akureyri Botanical Garden

Iceland · 11 km

  • 50Forestyas Score
  • 10%Trees
  • 93%Wild
  • 425Species

See the guide

Hallormsstaðaskógur

Iceland · 161 km

  • 55Forestyas Score
  • 24%Trees
  • 99%Wild
  • 321Species

See the guide

Þingvallaskógar

Iceland · 220 km

  • 49Forestyas Score
  • 1%Trees
  • 100%Wild
  • 274Species

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q1474041) · CC0
Land coverESA WorldCover 10 m 2021 v200 · © ESA WorldCover project / Copernicus Sentinel data · CC BY 4.0
Species1,751 open records within 5 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only)
See these recordsgbif.org
Names and photosWikidata (CC0); GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
AltitudeCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Temperature and rainNASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2)
What is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Sister atlasesPeakyas, Islandyas, Lakeyas, Darkskyas, Riveryas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit
viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit
birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Visit
forestsForestyasEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.You are here