Krafla, Iceland – Lava fields and steaming fumaroles

Iceland is known as the country of ‘Ice and Fire’ and it really does live up to this name, especially around Krafla in the north of the country.   Vatnajökull National Park has been recognised by UNESCO for its ever-changing potent mix of glaciers and volcanoes including Krafla volcano. 

Vatnajökull National Park covers 14% of the whole country with 10 volcanoes, 8 of which are buried under the Vatnajökull Glacier.  On the northern edge of the National Park, Hverir and Leirhnjúkur are areas close to Krafla, one of the two glacier-free volcanoes that continues to grumble and rumble. This small area of Iceland is not unique.  There are hot springs in every area of the country.  Even close to Reykjavík and the airport, there are hot springs, plopping mud pools and steaming fumaroles in the Reykjanes Geopark, but this area around Krafla has an intensity and scale that should not be missed.

Krafla

Located in the north of Iceland just a short distance from Mývatn, this area is bubbling and boiling away.  Between 1724 and 1729 an event now known as the Mývatn fires occurred.  Fissure vents opened up and lava fountains erupted with lava flows covering the area including nearby farms.  The Krafla lava fields formed during this period in history are immense, stretching for as far as the eye can see.  Some areas are made of smooth-flowing lava and others have a more granular appearance where the lava has been ejected forcefully from the volcano during the eruption.

More recently between 1975 and 1984, Krafla was active again.  These eruptions were named the Krafla Fires. Nine eruptions occurred as well as movement of the earth known as uplift and subsidence.  The effects of these eruptions and movements are visible from the roadside as you explore the landscape. 

Large cracks and sudden steps in the rocks follow lines leading away from the main Krafla Caldera, some between Kópasker and Raufarhöfn on the north coast cross the road and are visible. During this time large earthquakes were experienced including one in Kópasker in 1976 that registered as 6.3 on the Richter scale.

The experiences of the villagers during the earthquake are shared in the small Earthquake Museum in the village and a musical sculpture on the shore of Prestholalon to the north marks the Tjörnes Fracture Zone.

Krafla Víti Crater

Krafla has several craters but the easiest to visit is Víti (which means ‘Hell” in Icelandic) and is not to be confused with the more remote Askja Víti crater further south.  Krafla Víti crater is 300m in diameter and has a deep green lake with colourful mountains surrounding it. Even in the summer months, the wind whistles across the exposed landscape making it feel inhospitable and remote. Despite the wind, tucked in the base of the crater the small lake is calm compared to the steaming area of Leirhnjúkur just a short distance away.

Leirhnjúkur 

Leirhnjúkur is part of the Krafla caldera which is 10km long and over 2km wide.  Leirhnjúkur is 593 metres above sea level and is a rhyolite formation. Rhyolite forms when ejected magma or lava crystallises. During the Krafla Fires, this small 50-metre hill was formed.  The rhyolite is porous due to the geothermal heat and this in turn has turned the rhyolite to clay in places. 

As you follow the boardwalk into the lava fields the heat and steam can be felt and the whole area is dotted with fumaroles and hot springs. Plumes of sulphurous steam waft around the path and the need to stay on the boards becomes apparent. Some of the hot springs appear to be a clouded blue colour caused by colloidal silica suspended in the water.  Others are less attractive pools of bubbling boiling mud caused by the heat just below the surface. Everywhere you look there is steam and pools. The landscape appears to be in constant restless motion.

Krafla Geothermal Power Station

Between Leirhnjukur and Hverir is a sprawling geothermal power plant. This vast power station was developed just as the Krafla Fires phase of volcanic activity started in the area. The harnessing of the volcanic energy led to more eruptions and earthquakes after drilling began in 1974 allowing scientists to develop a new understanding of how magma flows and behaves. By 1978, Krafla Geothermal Power Station was producing energy with boreholes drilled down across the landscape close to Krafla Víti. The road to Krafla Víti passes through an archway linking the power plant to the boreholes, an interesting piece of engineering.

The Shower

After finding the red chair on a rock near Höfn, nothing comes as a surprise in Iceland. As you pass the Bjarnarflag Geothermal Power Station look out for something so normal that you almost pass it by. In a layby is a natural hot spring hooked up to a shower. Who would not appreciate a warm shower whilst driving around the north of Iceland?

Hverir

A short distance from Leirhnjúkur is the Námafjall Geothermal Area.  This barren landscape is caused by the acidity of the soil, an effect of geothermal activity.  Hverir sits at the base of the Námafjall volcanic mountain and does make you realise the power of the earth as steam rises from the flat lava fields. 

Fumaroles smoke continually, mud pots boil and the area is coated in a rainbow of coloured sulphur crystals.   Whilst it is void of vegetation the colours make it unique and stunning. A walk across the exposed soil takes you past areas of heated and ‘cooked’ clay. Different shapes emerge as the soil drys and the crystals form, affected by the heat beneath the surface.  This beauty is however counteracted by the overwhelming smell of eggs.  It hangs heavy in the air caused by the sulphur being emitted from below the surface through the fumaroles.

Bjarnarflag Geothermal Power Station

Built in 1969, Bjarnarflag Geothermal Station can produce 18 GWh of renewable energy annually.  This is the smallest geothermal plant in Iceland but collectively the five geothermal power stations generate 26% of the country’s power.  The remaining energy is almost entirely hydroelectric.  Hot water is piped directly from the power stations to homes and one thing you learn very early on in Iceland is that the hot water is always very very hot. This power station sits on the edge of a vibrant blue lake that is steaming with the heat percolating through the water and can be seen from the Mývatn Viewpoint as the road descends into Reykjahlíð village or from the small beach on the edge of the lake.

Getting to Krafla, Hverir and Leirhnjúkur

This region of Iceland is easily reached from Route 1 in the north of the country. Hverir is just 8 kilometres east of Reykjahlíð village on the shore of Lake Mývatn and is visible on the right as you come down the hill. There is a large parking area adjacent to the main area of geothermal activity. Leaving Hverir turn right, heading east away from Reykjahlíð and turn almost immediately left. This road will take you up to Krafla Víti, Leirhnjúkur and Bjarnarflag Geothermal Power Station where there are clear parking areas.