Hverir (Námaskarð)

Hverir is a five-minute diversion that most Ring Road drivers hit by accident: the car park is directly beside the road on the east side of the Námaskarð pass, a few minutes from Reykjahlíð, and the steam is visible from the car. It is a half-hour stop, an hour if you climb the ridge path up Námafjall for the view back over the lake.

On a journey it works as the first or last thing of a Mývatn stay, or as the leg-stretch on the long drive to Egilsstaðir. Coming from the east it is the first sign that the desert is ending. It is quiet before 09:00 and after 19:00; the mid-morning window belongs to coaches on the lake circuit.

The practical line: a large gravel car park with a toilet block. A charge for parking is reported at the site, but no official page confirming the amount or operator could be reached today, so budget for a fee and read the sign at the entrance. No fuel, water or food; Reykjahlíð is the nearest for all three.

Safety: the ground is a crust over boiling mud and the paths are roped for a reason. The Mývatn tourist office page for the site, read today, describes it as one of the country's most active high-temperature areas; stay on the marked paths, keep children in hand, and do not touch the water in the vents. The smell of sulphur is strong enough to put some people off lunch; eat afterwards.