Kollafjörður

Kollafjörður, a fjord, 16 km long, with many fords and flats that can be crossed at low tide. At its head lies the route up onto Kollafjarðarheiði moor which was one of the much–travelled routes between Breiðafjörður and the Ísafjarðardjúp fjords. The other two main routes were over Skálmardalsheiði moor and Þorskafjarðarheiði moor. All these moors reach a height of 400–500 m, but the Skálmardalsheiði route offers the shortest distance across the wilderness between farms. It lies up from the head of Skálmarfjörður and comes down via the Gjörvidalur valley at the head of Ísafjörður. The longest route was Þorskafjarðarheiði, going up the valley Kolla­búðardalur in Þorskafjörður and coming down Langi­dalur in Ísafjarðardjúp. The people of Breiða­fjörður would travel over these moors to get to Bolungarvík, for winter fishing or to go to Ísafjörður for trade. These routes were in use around 1900 for herding sheep to Ísafjörður. For this they also used a short cut over Hest­fjarðarheiði moor and down into Álftafjörður.