Hveradalir hike in Kerlingarfjöll

Hveradalir is the geothermal valley in Kerlingarfjöll, the mountain group south-west of Hofsjökull: steam vents, hot springs and mud pools on slopes of orange, grey and green rhyolite, crossed by marked trails and boardwalks. A walk here is a summer day out from the Kjölur road. It suits hikers with a highland itinerary and a car allowed on F-roads, and anyone sleeping at Highland Base or Hveravellir. It does not suit a winter trip, a 2wd hire car whose contract excludes F-roads, or a day based in Reykjavík unless you accept about seven hours of driving.

The figures, read today. Highland Base, the operator at Kerlingarfjöll, runs a three-hour guided Hveradalir hike daily at 09:00 from 20 June to 30 September, ISK 24,900 per guest (2026-11-01), age limit 12, starting with a briefing at the hotel reception before guests drive to the Hveradalir car park. Cancellations must be made in writing at least 24 hours ahead; no-shows are charged; tours may be delayed or cancelled for weather and road conditions. Its own route page gives Reykjavík to Kerlingarfjöll as about 200 km and about 3½ hours in the best conditions: road 35 past Gullfoss, then F347 to the base. In summer the operator says cars and buses can drive in; in winter the roads are not cleared and only its professionally driven super jeeps go. Its Hveradalir page puts the valley about 4 km from the base, with the drive up for 4x4s.

Vegagerðin's opening table for the Kjölur road between Gullfoss and Hveravellir shows 11 June 2021, 10 June 2022, 1 June 2023, 14 June 2024 and 30 May 2025, an average of 1 June. F347 itself is not in the table and Vegagerðin publishes no opening history for it, so no date is given here; road.is and the 1777 line give its state before you turn off.

#The arithmetic

Day 3 of the five-day highland journey runs from Landmannalaugar over Kjölur to a night at Hveravellir. By OSRM on OpenStreetMap, Gullfoss to Hveravellir is 90 km and 126 minutes direct, and 121 km and 175 minutes via the Hveradalir car park, so the detour adds 50 minutes of driving. With 180 minutes on foot (the guided hike's length, used here for a self-guided loop too) and a 30-minute buffer for the gravel, the stop costs about 260 minutes, which is a long day on top of a 325-minute ledger drive. From a Hveravellir bed it is 46 km and about 70 minutes each way by OSRM, about 350 minutes in all; from Reykjavík, 194 km and about 215 minutes each way, about 640.

#What goes wrong

Season: outside summer there is no self-drive access. Weather: the operator advises warm, waterproof layers and says sudden changes are the norm; the hike may be adapted to conditions. Ground: stay on the marked trails, which the operator says is required in the protected area. Rental terms: many hire contracts treat F347 as an F-road.

#Alternatives on the same road

On Kjölur itself, Hveravellir, the night stop of the same ledger day, has a hot pool and a boardwalk round its own springs. Further south, Landmannalaugar's day hike covers similar rhyolite from a different road. Much nearer Reykjavík, the Reykjadalur hot-river walk above Hveragerði is the lowland geothermal hike.