Iceland Travel GuideLOCAL TRAVEL AGENCY IN ICELAND
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Iceland Travel GuideLOCAL TRAVEL AGENCY IN ICELAND
My trip
Talk to a local
Krafla is an active volcanic area in North Iceland, near Lake Mývatn, best known for the explosion crater Víti and the steaming Leirhnjúkur lava fields. It is free to visit, about 485 km and roughly 6 hours' drive from Reykjavík, and most people spend 1–2 hours there.
Krafla is a large volcanic caldera north-east of Lake Mývatn, ringed by mountains and geothermal ground. The caldera is about 10 km across and sits on a fissure zone that stretches roughly 90 km, and the highest point of the volcano reaches 818 metres. It has erupted 29 times since Iceland was settled, which makes it one of the country's most active volcanic systems.
The most famous of these eruptions, the Mývatn Fires of 1724–1729, opened the crater now known as Víti. The most recent, the Krafla Fires of 1975–1984, left the black lava fields you walk beside today. The ground is still warm in places, with fissures, gullies, steaming vents and bubbling mud.
Víti is around 300 metres across and holds a pale green-blue lake that looks like a huge eye staring up from the ground. A trail circles the rim. Close by, the Leirhnjúkur lava field has steaming vents, mud pots and black lava you can walk close to on marked paths. The western side of Krafla is the most active, dotted with fumaroles and sulphur vents.
The same heat shows up all around the area. The steam vents and boiling mud pools of Hverir, by the Ring Road at Námafjall, belong to the same volcanic system, and the Krafla Power Station turns the underground heat into electricity. Iceland gets nearly all its electricity and heating from renewable sources, and Krafla is a good place to see how the geothermal part of that works.
The Mývatn Fires of 1724–1729 were a series of eruptions and lava flows from the Krafla system. Víti crater was blasted open in the first explosion, on 17 May 1724. Fissures opened across the area, and the lava fountains are said to have been seen from the south of the country.
Víti means "hell". The name comes from an old belief that the entrance to hell lay beneath volcanoes, and a steaming crater that had just exploded out of the ground must have looked the part.
Two and a half centuries later, the Krafla Fires of 1975–1984 brought nine more eruptions and repeated rifting in the same area, some of it close to the geothermal power station that was being built at the time.
That power station, Krafla Power Station, has produced electricity since 1977. It taps the same underground heat that drives the region's mud pots and steam vents, and is a reminder that this landscape is still very much active.
This is a long drive from Reykjavík. Most visitors combine Krafla with an overnight stay near Mývatn or Akureyri, as part of a trip around North Iceland.
The Krafla area has several stops along the same short road. You can see them all in half a day.
Stay on marked paths. Ground temperatures near the vents can be dangerously high just below the surface.
Limited on-site facilities. There are car parks at Leirhnjúkur and at Víti. The Krafla Power Station has a visitor centre in summer. Fuel, food and fuller services are in Reykjahlíð at Lake Mývatn.
The Mývatn area has hotels, guesthouses and camping and is the natural base for visiting Krafla. Staying in a nearby town lets you see much of North Iceland in a weekend.
No, it is free to visit.
About 485 km, around 6 hours by car without stops. Flying to Akureyri and driving from there takes about 45 minutes in the air plus 1.5 hours on the road.
Drive east on the Ring Road past Hverir, turn left onto Route 863 at the Krafla sign and follow it about 9 km to the Víti car park. It takes 20 to 25 minutes.
Yes, it is an active volcanic system that last erupted in 1975–1984 and continues to power a nearby geothermal plant.
Víti means "hell" in Icelandic. People once believed that hell lay beneath volcanoes.
About 30 minutes for the rim trail. The viewpoint itself is only a few minutes from the car park.
No, swimming is not permitted; the trail is for walking the rim only.
Yes, but the road and trails can be icy or snow-covered and the power station visitor centre is closed. Summer is the more comfortable season.
