Route 550 The Kaldidalsvegur and Hallmundarhraun Lava Field
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 54.99 mi
- Elevation gain
- 3,087 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Easy
- Elevation loss
- 3,022 ft
- Max elevation
- 2,416 ft
- TrailRank
- 40
- Min elevation
- 403 ft
- Trail type
- One Way
- Time
- 4 hours 51 minutes
- Coordinates
- 2287
- Uploaded
- August 23, 2015
- Recorded
- July 2015
near Laugarvatn, Suðurland (Lýðveldið Ísland)
Viewed 2239 times, downloaded 41 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
The Kaldidalsvegur is the shortest of the highland tracks traversing the Highlands of Iceland, therefore the nickname "highlands for beginners". Its name derives from the valley it crosses: kaldidalur means "cold dale/valley". Sometimes the Kaldidalsvegur is referred to as simply "the Kaldidalur".
The route begins a bit to the north of Þingvellir and to the west of the volcano Skjaldbreiður, which really comes up to its name (meaning broad shield). The track continues between the glaciers Þórisjökull and Ok and leads up to the north. To the east of Reykholt it comes near the Reykholtsdalur to Húsafell. Then it continues up to Hvammstangi at the Miðfjörður.
Signed as route 550, the track is 40 kilometers long, and has no unbridged river crossings. (The Kaldidalsvegur is not an F road, and a four-wheel-drive vehicle is not legally required to traverse it, however many car rental companies forbid the use of their two-wheel-drive vehicles on this interior route.)
Surtshellir is a lava cave located in western Iceland, around 60 km from the settlement of Borgarnes. Approximately a mile in length, it is the longest such cave in the country. While mentioned in the medieval historical-geographical work Landnámabók, Eggert Ólafsson was the first to give a thorough documentation of the cave in his 1750 travels of the region. It is named after the fire giant Surtr, a prominent figure in Norse mythology, who is prophesied to one day engulf the world in the fire of his flaming sword.
The route begins a bit to the north of Þingvellir and to the west of the volcano Skjaldbreiður, which really comes up to its name (meaning broad shield). The track continues between the glaciers Þórisjökull and Ok and leads up to the north. To the east of Reykholt it comes near the Reykholtsdalur to Húsafell. Then it continues up to Hvammstangi at the Miðfjörður.
Signed as route 550, the track is 40 kilometers long, and has no unbridged river crossings. (The Kaldidalsvegur is not an F road, and a four-wheel-drive vehicle is not legally required to traverse it, however many car rental companies forbid the use of their two-wheel-drive vehicles on this interior route.)
Surtshellir is a lava cave located in western Iceland, around 60 km from the settlement of Borgarnes. Approximately a mile in length, it is the longest such cave in the country. While mentioned in the medieval historical-geographical work Landnámabók, Eggert Ólafsson was the first to give a thorough documentation of the cave in his 1750 travels of the region. It is named after the fire giant Surtr, a prominent figure in Norse mythology, who is prophesied to one day engulf the world in the fire of his flaming sword.
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