Jökulsárlón

Jökulsárlón sits along the Ring Road at an elevation of 227 feet, with the terrain dropping 8 feet over the next 600 meters. The overlook faces a large glacial lake located at the head of the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier, in the southern part of Vatnajökull National Park. The lake formed after the glacier began receding in the late 19th century and has continued to grow at varying rates as the glacier melts; its size has increased fourfold since the 1970s. The glacial front now stands about 8 km from the ocean's edge, and the lake covers roughly 25 square kilometers. It was reported in 2009 to be over 284 meters deep, a depth attributed to continued glacial retreat. Daylight hours vary considerably by season: sunrise comes at 02:35 and sunset at 23:39 near the June solstice, while near the December solstice sunrise is at 10:58 and sunset at 15:09. The equinox days fall closer to twelve hours of daylight, with sunrise around 07:07 and sunset around 19:19 in March, and similar timing in September. The Eskey lookout precedes this stop, and Fjallsárlón follows along the route.