The Hot River at Hveragerði
If you have a free afternoon in Iceland and are in the mood for a workout, Hveragerði is a great option for your day. From Reykjavik, it’s about a 40-minute drive – and you’ll be hiking for 60 to 90 minutes. I went in March, when the mountains were white as they could be, and it took us a solid 90 minutes. Beware, people who hate hiking. But I promise, the hot river is worth it.
Finding Reykjadalur
To get there, take Highway 1 towards Vik for about 40 minutes – when you descend the huge pass, you’ll see steam coming out of the ground, surrounding a small town at the foot of the mountains. That’s Hveragerði. Then, you basically take the main road in town to the very end – and the trailhead will be there.
You’ll likely see hikers high above the trailhead – that will be you soon! Just follow the trail and the red trail markers for 3 km, until you pass through an area where there are a few bubbling geysers and a ton of steam rising from the ground. When you’ve arrived, you’ll find some boardwalks and probably a handful of other tourists and locals enjoying a dip in the pools.
Start at the lowest pool, as they get hotter the farther upstream you go!
Sorry not sorry for the booty shot!
One of my favorite hikes! I just love the hot springs!
Same! I’m dying to do it in summer 🙂
I’m headed to Iceland in November and wanted to do this hike if we had time! Was the trail hard to navigate with snow on the ground? I’m mainly concerned about getting lost or falling into one of those boiling clay holes people talk about. Fantastic photos!
Hi Eric! It’s a fairly popular trail, so it was pretty easy to figure out in the snow — you just walk where the footsteps are! The snow just makes it more difficult, so I’d allocate 75-90 minutes to get there. The red trail markers stuck out above the snow when I went, so it wasn’t too confusing. A couple of times we saw parallel trails in the snow, but they all lead to the same place.
Have so much fun! Bring food and water.
Thanks so much for the info Sarah! Hopefully we’ll be able to make it out 🙂