The landscape is very similar to some of the Alps, but it has been formed in thousands of years by different influences of fire (volcanic eruptions of Öræfajökull) and water (the glaciers "Skeiðarájökull" and "Skaftafellsjökull"), the rivers Skeiðará, "Morsá" und "Skaftafellsá".
Ustanovljen je bil 15. septembra 1967 in se kasneje še dvakrat razširil.