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Iceland Iceland forest

Heiðmörk

Roman Z · CC BY-SA 3.0

15% trees around it and 345 species recorded.

48Forestyas Score

Forest

  • trees within 3 km15%
  • wild within 10 km90%
  • species recorded345
  • Altitude137 m

The forest around

15% 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 20%Grassland 80%Trees 15%Shrubland 1%Grassland 76%Water 6%Cropland 0%Built-up 1%Trees 7%Shrubland 3%Grassland 80%Moss and lichen 0%Water 2%Bare ground 1%Cropland 1%Built-up 6%Trees 5%Shrubland 1%Grassland 70%Moss and lichen 4%Water 4%Bare ground 3%Cropland 1%Built-up 11%15%trees · 3 km

Trees, ring by ring

  • 0–1 km20%
  • 1–3 km15%
  • 3–6 km7%
  • 6–10 km5%

What covers the land (1–3 km)

  • Trees15%
  • Shrubland1%
  • Grassland76%
  • Moss and lichen0%
  • Water6%
  • Bare ground0%
  • Cropland0%
  • Built-up1%

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

345 species recorded.

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

Mother of thyme
Mother of thymeThymus praecox34 recordsUnknown author · CC BY-SA 3.0
Nootka lupine
Nootka lupineLupinus nootkatensis33 recordsUser:NancyHeise · Public domain
Kinnikinnick
KinnikinnickArctostaphylos uva-ursi32 recordsWalter Siegmund · CC BY 2.5
Heather
HeatherCalluna vulgaris31 recordsUnknown author · Public domain
Cowberry
CowberryVaccinium vitis-idaea28 recordsBartosz Cuber · CC BY-SA 3.0
Northern bedstraw
Northern bedstrawGalium boreale28 recordsKristian Peters -- Fabelfroh 06:36, 2 July 2007 (UTC) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Tufted Hair-grass
Tufted Hair-grassDeschampsia cespitosa28 recordsChristian Fischer · CC BY-SA 3.0
Thrift seapink
Thrift seapinkArmeria maritima28 recordsUnknown author · CC BY-SA 3.0
Salix lanata
Salix lanataSalix lanata26 recordsSten Porse · CC BY-SA 3.0
Common woodrush
Common woodrushLuzula multiflora25 recordsDaderot · Public domain
Bigelow's sedge
Bigelow's sedgeCarex bigelowii25 recordsPetr Filippov · CC BY-SA 3.0
Wood Crane's-bill
Wood Crane's-billGeranium sylvaticum25 recordsPhilipp Weigell · CC BY 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.

48out of 100

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

  • 15%Treesof the land within 3 km
  • 90%Wildno towns or farmland within 10 km
  • 345Speciesrecorded more than once within 5 km
  • 137 mAltitudeabove the sea

When to walk

Best for walking in July.

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

  1. Jan2°-2°169 mm
  2. Feb2°-2°152 mm
  3. Mar3°-1°154 mm
  4. Apr5°1°119 mm
  5. May8°3°93 mm
  6. Jun12°7°83 mm
  7. Jul14°9°99 mm
  8. Aug13°8°121 mm
  9. Sep10°6°181 mm
  10. Oct6°2°147 mm
  11. Nov3°0°149 mm
  12. Dec2°-2°172 mm
  • Bar: walking comfort; the number on top is the average maximum.
  • Below: average minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
  • Rain: monthly total.

The place

Heiðmörk.

Conservation area in Reykjavík, Iceland

Heiðmörk is a forest in Iceland.

Seen from space, 15% of the land within 3 km is trees, and 90% of the land within 10 km has no towns or farmland.

345 species have been recorded around it: 237 plants, 25 fungi, 83 birds and 0 mammals.

The most recorded plants are: Mother of thyme, Nootka lupine and Kinnikinnick.

The best time to walk is in July.

Heidmork (44)
Roman Z · CC BY-SA 3.0

Get there and walk

Plan the visit

A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at RKV airport (Reykjavík)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.

Heiðmörk 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

  • 7marked trails within 5 kmHimnastiginn, Árleið, Norðmannahringur and 4 more
  • 10picnic sites within 4 kmHjallaflatir and 9 more
  • 7shelters and huts within 6 kmMjódd - austur, Mjódd - vestur and 5 more
  • 4viewpoints within 5 kmHringsjá og eyktir and 3 more
  • 1visitor centres within 6 kmÞjónustuborð
  • 76car parks within 3 km
  • 3campsites within 10 kmViðistaðatúni, Camper Resort Reykjavík, Tjaldsvæði í Laugardal
  • 150places to stay within 10 kmHafnarfjörður, Hotel Viking, Hótel Vík and 147 more
  • 1restaurants and cafés within 3 km
  • named and notable trees within 6 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 Heiðmörk.

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.

Peakyas29 mountains within 25 km
Þríhnúkagígur8.1 kmVífilsfell655 m · 11 kmLeitin13 kmBrennisteinsfjöll621 m · volcano · 16 kmVestmannaeyjar16 kmHengill803 m · volcano · 22 kmEsja914 m · 22 kmKrýsuvík25 km
Islandyasthe island
Iceland102,775 km²
Coastya3 beaches within 10 km
Kópavogur8.2 kmFossvogur9.4 kmNauthólsvík9.9 km
Lakeyas6 lakes within 15 km
Elliðavatn2.1 km² · 2.9 kmVífilsstaðavatn0.3 km² · 4.9 kmRauðavatn0.3 km² · 5.1 kmLangavatn0.5 km² · 7.4 kmSelvatn (lanaw sa Islandya, Höfuðborgarsvæði)0.3 km² · 8.3 kmHafravatn1.0 km² · 9.3 km
Darkskyas1 dark-sky places within 30 km
HengillBortle 3 · 23 km
Cavernyas1 caves within 20 km
Maríuhellar5.7 km
Cascadyas2 waterfalls within 15 km
Álafoss13 kmTungufoss13 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.

Heiðmörk 046
Roman Z · CC BY-SA 3.0
September 2006. Day hike just at the South of Reykjavik 9
Syced · CC0
Pinusc.heidmork
Berserkur · CC BY-SA 4.0

Other forests nearby.

Heiðmörk

Iceland

  • 48Forestyas Score
  • 15%Trees
  • 90%Wild
  • 345Species

Reykjavík Botanic Garden

Iceland · 10 km

  • 48Forestyas Score
  • 14%Trees
  • 88%Wild
  • 222Species

See the guide

Þingvallaskógar

Iceland · 42 km

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

See the guide

Akureyri Botanical Garden

Iceland · 250 km

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

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q1145380) · CC0
Land coverESA WorldCover 10 m 2021 v200 · © ESA WorldCover project / Copernicus Sentinel data · CC BY 4.0
Species12,851 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, Coastya, Lakeyas, Darkskyas, Cavernyas, Cascadyas

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