In the 20th century a change in the geology of this area caused a river that flowed from a glacier to be blocked from its route to the sea. Thus the Lake of Ice was created. If the geology of the area changes, which it very likely could, the lake will vanish. A highlight of any trip to Iceland, this lake is best seen from special pontoon boats that are purpose built to go among the icebergs on this lake. The place where you get onto these boats is very close to the Ring Road and although the approach is deep in gravel, you don't need 4 wheel drive to get in. (Although I think 4 wheel drive is necessary for any car you would want in Iceland.) An exceptionally beautiful feature of this lake is a suspension bridge over the Jokulsa River that flows from the lake. It is a small version of the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco.
When the Vatnajokull volcano blew in 1996 sections of the Ring Road were blown up to allow huge flows of melt water from the glaciers to go directly into the sea without destroying this beautiful bridge. You may have seen this on television news at the time.
The guides on the boats are beautiful young Icelandic women. They spoke several languages very well and were very knowledgable about the lake, glaciers and geology.
A very enjoyable trip/tour that I can highly recommend to anyone. My sincere thanks to Eye On Iceland for the use of this beautiful photograph. This site is wonderful Eye on Iceland.