Explore The west coast
Route 518 runs 25km east from Reykholt to the pastoral hamlet of HÚSAFELL, a favourite activity centre for holidaying Icelanders and a fantastic place to fetch up for a couple of days of hiking and sightseeing. Though the main draw here is the vast lavafield Hallmundarhraun, there are also some excellent hiking trails leading off into the Húsafellsskógur forest and, more adventurously, up to the Eiríksjökull and Okjökull glaciers. In summer, you can also push further out from here for a taste of Iceland’s Interior, by following the Kaldidalur route (Route 550) southwest to Þingvellir. Public buses can get you as far as Reykholt, but from here you really need your own vehicle to explore.
Set amid birchwoods, the village itself consists of little more than a church, originally built in 1170 but today dating only from 1905, and a hundred or so private summer cottages, mostly owned by the trade unions (whose employees use the cottages in rotation) and individual families. There is also a service centre with a food store and filling station.
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Hraunfossar and Barnafoss
Hraunfossar and Barnafoss
Six kilometres west of Húsafell on Route 518, the waterfalls of Hraunfossar and Barnafoss are two of the best-known natural features in Iceland. Although both are on the Hvítá, it’s Hraunfossar (Lava Falls) that make for the best photographs; however, don’t expect thundering white torrents – the falls here are gentle cascades of bright, turquoise water, emerging from under the moss-covered lava to tumble down a series of rock steps into the river. From here, a track leads upstream to Barnafoss (Children’s Falls), which is far more lively – it was here that two children fell to their deaths when crossing a narrow stone arch that once spanned the river. A modern footbridge now affords an excellent view of the water churning violently as it channels through the ravine below.
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Langjökull
Langjökull
Just 20km southeast of Húsafell, but not readily accessible on foot due to its isolated location on the western edges of the Interior, lies Iceland’s second-largest ice cap, Langjökull (Long Glacier). Covering 950 square kilometres, Langjökull resembles a narrow protruding finger wedged between the Hallmundarhraun lavafield and the Kjölur Interior route – you’ll pass its foothills on both the Kjölur Interior route and when tackling the Kaldidalur route.
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The Kaldidalur interior route
The Kaldidalur interior route
From Húsafell, Route 550 (Kaldadalsvegur) winds its way southwest through the haunting beauty of the Kaldidalur valley on its way to the information centre and campsite at Þingvellir, a distance of around 60km. If you’re short of time but want a taste of the barren expanses of the Icelandic Interior, this is a good option: you’ll come face to face with four glaciers – Eiríksjökull, Okjökull, Langjökull and Þórisjökull, a small oval-shaped ice cap rising to a height of 1350m – and pass through a vast grey desert where ferocious sandstorms can appear in seconds, transforming what was once a clear vista of majestic ice caps and volcanic sands into an impenetrable cloud of grit and dirt. As the neck of land carrying the road narrows to pass between the Ok and Þórisjökull glaciers, the route climbs and rides along the straight Langihyrggur ridge affording spectacular views of Þórisjökull opposite.
The Kaldidalur route is unsealed and rough, though generally open to conventional vehicles from mid-June until late August – you’ll need to check road conditions in advance through wvegag.is.
