Take a hike up to see the best preserved circular volcanic crater in the world, in Mývatn. You may think if you’ve seen one crater, you’ve seen them all, but I promise you that Hverfjall is different.
An explosion 2,500 years ago created one of the largest tephra craters on Earth. It is 3,300 feet in diameter and the cinder cone rises 590 feet tall. To get to the hike, drive five minutes off the main road on a gravel track. There are two parking areas, the first is easy to get to and I chose to park in it. If you want to get right to the base of the crater it is just a few hundred feet down the road, which becomes more degraded. A hiking trail heads diagonally up a fault line, the path is 2,000 ft long to reach the rim of the crater, gaining 300 ft elevation along the way.
Short and steep on a gravel path, but it only takes a few minutes to climb. If you want to walk around the rim entirely, the hike will be two miles roundtrip. However, if you’re short on time the best view is one fifth counterclockwise, easily spotted as the highest point on the rim. The sight of the picture perfect crater is jaw dropping, almost perfectly round.
The tephra caused pyroclastic flows on the slopes of the crater that reached up to 2 miles from the crater, you can see traces of them if you visit the Myvatn Nature Baths. Views out into the distance are sublime.
Good to know:
+Restrooms on site have a 200 krona entrance fee.
+If it is very windy think twice about heading up to the rim.
+A trail leads from the crater to Dimmuborgir approximately 45 minutes away by foot on a flat path.