The Uninhabited Interior
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Often described as a “lunar landscape”, the interior highlands of Iceland are indeed a uniquely barren and forbidding scenery. Two routes go all the way through it, one being more difficult and demanding than the other. But with a good 4x4 vehicle it’s doable – and an exhilarating experience. And there’s a bit of semi-mythological dark legacy involved here too.
>Combinations with other dark destinations
More background info: The interior highlands of Iceland have always been a forbidding territory, traversable only in summer, when the routes through the barren lands served as a shortcut for travelling from the south to the north (or vice versa) instead of the long way around the island (these days easy by the famous Ring Road No.1).
Going into the interior was feared in the past – especially given possible encounters with frightening fugitives, outlaws who had retreated there as outcasts from society. Regions such as Kerlingarfjöll thus remained largely unexplored until the second half of the 19th century.
And as this is Iceland, such myths and other folklore persist to this day (remember, this is a country where beliefs in trolls and elves are still widely held, in all earnestness). Yet it wasn’t all myth – one famous recorded case is that of Eyvindur Jonsson who is said to have spent up to 20 years in the interior as a fugitive. His legend was also dramatized and he acquired the nickname “Falla-Eyvindur” (‘Eyvindur of the mountains’). The threats that gangs of outlaws posed to trading convoys along the inland trails was also quite real – so much so that in the 18th century repeated raids on convoys almost brought the north-south trade traffic along highland routes to an end.
But the legends and myths were kept alive in folklore stories people told each other during the long dark winter days. These were also recorded in several volumes and remain an important aspect of Icelandic literary history.
Even without such more ancient and/or mythological dark aspects (which normally wouldn’t qualify for this website’s concept of dark tourism and beyond DT) you can argue that the extreme middle-of-nowhere, end-of-the-world character of this extreme barren moonscape makes it at least overlapping with dark tourism.
And for me it’s one of the key draws of Iceland. This landscape is so starkly different from anywhere else in Europe and it’s so vast and so desolate it’s absolutely captivating and exhilarating just being there. And it’s great fun to drive it too (4WD required). Hence I didn’t want this website not to cover this outstanding part of travelling in Iceland!
There are several routes through the interior, all at best gravel tracks and all requiring a good sturdy 4WD vehicle. The two main routes that go all the way from south to north (or the other direction) are the Kjölur Route (F35) and the Sprengisandur Route (F26).
The latter is the more demanding of the two and it’s highly recommended not to attempt this other than in convoy, i.e. in a minimum of two vehicles. That’s because you have to ford rivers – and if one vehicle gets stuck, the other could pull it out or get help. On your own such a mishap could be seriously dangerous. Old car wrecks by the river fords underscore this point.
The Kjölur Route is less demanding, rivers now have bridges and the terrain isn’t too tricky and challenging (though still not totally easy). So the Kjölur Route may be the easier of the two, but there’s more to see along this route – see below.
In addition there are also routes into the interior that do not go all the way to the other side but end at natural barriers – such as at Kverkfjöll on the northern edge of the vast Vatnajökull glacier/ice cap. Another dead-end route leads to Viti and Askja, and that is described in this separate chapter here.
Also going into the interior, but on its southern side are the tracks to Þórsmörk and the rough but scenic route through Landmannalaugar – see under Iceland.
Driving on any of these routes will be laborious and slow – so don’t underestimate the time required. Also note that these routes are only open in the summer, roughly from late June to the end of August or early to mid-September. The rest of the year there’s no access – except for Icelandic-operated tours by “super jeep” (with extra-wide tyres for driving on snow); or glacier- and snowmobiles. So it’s important to remember that this splendid aspect of travelling in Iceland is only possible for independent tourists during the summer peak season, but not in the low season when there are fewer tourists and it’s colder and snowy. So you have to decide which is more important to you when choosing the season to go … lower prices and fewer tourists or access to the inland as a possibility (and then higher prices and more tourists).
By the way, the interior is not 100% uninhabited all the time any more. There are a couple of staffed huts that operate in summer, but the weather station at Hveravellir remains in operation year round. And at Kerlingarfjöll a new hotel (called Highland Base) has been constructed, even equipped with geothermally heated spa facilities (open from autumn 2023). This is said be available even in winter, when transfers from the tarmacked roads of the Golden Circle have to be organized by “super jeep”. But the rest of the inland highlands remain totally wild and population-less (perhaps the odd Arctic fox notwithstanding).
What there is to see: Lots and lots of barrenness, mostly. Parts of these routes really look like they’re traversing the surface of the moon. Though not strictly speaking a desert (there’s too much precipitation for that) it often still looks like one. The likening to the surface of the moon only goes so far, though. Yes, the terrain does look lunar (and allegedly NASA trained Apollo astronauts here), but there’s still the sky (blue or grey) and the large glacier ice caps in the distance that remind you of the fact that you’re not actually on the moon. And the glaciers do add to the stark scenery. There are also wild rivers, rugged peaks and geothermal fields. A wondrous land!
I’ve never attempted the more demanding Sprengisandur Route (see above), for which you would have to organize a convoy of at least two jeeps, and that has so far not been an option for me. Nor have I been to Kverkfjöll or Þórsmörk, though I did drive through Landmannalaugar (see under Iceland) in August 2004. For the Viti and Askja route I decided to join a tour by high-clearance bus rather than attempting the drive myself in 2004 – see the separate chapter for that.
But I drove the Kjölur Route myself twice, in August 2004 in its entirety and again most of the way in August 2023. On both occasions I drove in from the south, though one can of course do it the other way round just as well.
The rest of this chapter concentrates only on the Kjölur Route:
The Route, with the road number F35 (the “F” designation in Iceland almost always indicates its unpaved), begins in the south very near the fabled Gullfoss waterfall (see under Iceland). In fact this is already by the paved part of the F35, which even starts all the way down at Selfoss, but it’s only after Gullfoss that it becomes the interior Kjölur Route.
From here the paved stretch continues for another ca. 9 miles (15 km) before the tarmac gives way to a gravel track. This then carries on almost all the rest of the route, which is ca. a hundred miles (160 km) long, until it reaches its end near the northern loop of the No.1 Ring Road.
The scenery is initially still fairly green – and at one point a deep red (must be some desert-compatible grass species that creates that colour), then what little vegetation there is slowly fizzles out until the land turns increasingly barren and surface-of-the-moon-like except for the gravel track leading through it.
Left and right you can see the large ice caps of Langjökull (to the west) and Hofsjökull (to the east), the two largest in Iceland after the huge Vatnajökull further east. A couple of side tracks get a bit closer to Langjökull. It has a greenish-blue glacier lake called Hvítárvatn with glacier tongues coming down from the ice cap to the east and sometimes calving icebergs. You can see the area well enough from the main F35 and viewpoints along it.
Some 15 miles (22 km) onwards you come to the turn-off of the F347 route heading east. In August 2023, a bit by accident, I took that turn and I’m glad I did. That’s because it leads past some grand vistas of wild rivers, roaring waterfalls, craggy peaks and steep gorges before coming to Kerlingarfjöll and the “Highland Base” complex of self-catering huts, lodges and a hotel. The new hotel, restaurant and spa is largely made of wood and offers luxury accommodation in the middle of nowhere. I obviously didn’t stay there on this occasion, but it’s a nice idea … maybe some other time.
The F347 then carries on to the stunningly surreal geothermal area of Hveradalir. The land is a bizarre deep yellow and at several spots steam is being emitted from the geothermal fields. The mountain flanks all around still featured snow even in early August when I was there. If you have the time, you can explore the area in more depth along a few hiking trails that have been constructed, including footbridges over rivulets, so you don’t have to ford them on foot. But be prepared for some steep climbs.
Back on the F35, I headed further north, past the big white ice cap of Höfsjökull on the left until the F735 turn-off for Hveravellir. This is another geothermal field with hot springs and steam vents, some in amazing colours. There’s even a geothermally-heated-water-fed hot tub visitors can use. Eyvindur Jonsson’s (see above) hideout cave is supposed to be nearby (a ca. 20 minute hike to the south along a marked trail) and one of the hot springs is named Eyvindahver after him.
There’s also a weather station as well as a mountain hut/lodge with a cafe here, plus a campsite. Hence Hveravellir is the only really touristy spot on the Kjölur Route and can get a little crowded. But it’s definitely worth a look, if only for all the geothermal activity around. The views over to Hofsjökull from here are pretty good too.
On my latest visit in August 2023, I turned back after Hveravellir towards Gullfoss (near where I was staying that day), but back in August 2004 on my first visit I drove all the rest of the Kjölur Route till its end and then on along the Ring Road east. My memory of this latter stretch of the Kjölur Route is that after Hveravellir the desolate, barren landscape continued for a while but was then increasingly replaced by more and more green fields. And eventually the route becomes tarmacked again. So it felt a little anticlimactic after the more lunar parts in the centre.
An artificial lake also appears to the east of the track, followed by a couple more smaller ones. These are the result of a controversial hydroelectric power generation project. So there’s a different sort of dark (in an environmental sense) involved here as well.
The F35 then ends at a T-junction, and taking the right turn here is the shortest way to join the No.1 Ring Road, which heads to Akureyri (Iceland’s second “city”) and Myvatn to the east and to Blönduós and the West Fjords to the west.
All in all, driving the Kjölur Route was a top highlight on both occasions I visited Iceland. I’m a sucker for desolate places and barren wide landscapes, so this is further up my street in this respect than anywhere else I’ve ever been (I guess it could probably only be beaten by the relevant parts of Antarctica). So for people who share my predilection for such scenery I cannot recommend getting a 4x4 and driving this route warmly enough. BUT: it may not be for everybody! I can well imagine others finding it utterly boring. In a classic touristy view it certainly is – no beaches, no nightlife, no entertainment, no museums or galleries, no grand architecture, and very little in terms of culture or gastronomy. For me, on the other hand, it is precisely the fact that all that is largely absent and that the highlands thus feel so far removed from human domination, that make them so alluring.
Location: as this chapter’s title indicates, indeed in the middle of the inland highlands of Iceland, various exact locations:
Google Maps locators:
Southern end of the F35’s interior route part: [64.32629, -20.130921]
Northern end of the F35: [65.49353, -19.87599]
Hvítárvatn and Langjökull: [64.6415, -19.8816]
Turn-off from the F35 for the F347: [64.71714, -19.46254]
Kerlingarfjöll Highland Base: [64.6835, -19.3002]
Hveradalir geothermal fields parking: [64.6464, -19.2787]
Hveravellir geothermal area and lodge/cafe/campsite: [64.8661, -19.5539]
Eyvindarhellir cave: [64.86025, -19.55516]
Artificial lake for hydroelectric power station: [65.2213, -19.6817]
Access and costs: only by car, ideally a 4x4, or organized tour; free as such (except for fuel or tour costs)
Details: To “do” the Kjölur Route independently you’ll have to have your own (hire) vehicle, and that should ideally be a sturdy 4x4 jeep. In theory the Kjölur Route (unlike other highland routes) could be driven by a normal 2WD car with care, but hire car companies’ insurance cover in Iceland typically excludes the use of the F roads, including the Kjölur Route. Going for a 4x4 also gives you much better traction on the gravelly dirt tracks. So it can really only be recommended to invest in such a vehicle when choosing a hire car.
In theory you can also traverse the highlands by bus in the summer, but that gives you no flexibility as to where to stop. There are also organized tours with special vehicles that take in parts of the inland routes – and can even go off-road and on to glaciers in places. Such tours tend not to come cheap, though they provide access to parts of the interior otherwise out of many tourists’ reach.
But to get the full experience and the feeling of solitude and desolation of just the uninhabited interior, going on an independent individual basis by 4x4 has to be the better way.
The inland routes are only open in the summer! Exactly when which routes open and close varies, but it’s usually from sometime in June to late August or mid-September.
The weather can be quite unpredictable and one moment’s bright sunshine can quickly be replaced by heavy downpours. I certainly had both on my drive of the Kjölur Route in August 2023. Even in calm weather, bring warm layers, as the elevation of up to 700m will make it cooler than on the coast or in Reykjavik! And if you also want to get out and hike a bit, sturdy boots are recommended. Bringing enough water and some snacks is also advisable, as there is hardly anywhere you could buy anything.
The same goes for fuel: there’s none available in the interior (except for at Kerlingarfjöll, so I’ve read; though I don’t recall actually seeing a filling station). So make absolutely sure to fill up your car before embarking on any of the interior routes!
Time required: driving the whole length of the Kjölur Route takes about five hours – plus time for side routes and stops, so basically a whole day. Driving the Sprengisandur Route takes even longer, at least eight hours (so one would have to make it an early start), and can be slow going especially in adverse weather.
Combinations with other dark destinations: in general see under Iceland, and in particular under Viti & Askja.
Combinations with non-dark destinations: in general see under Iceland.
One of the most popular attractions on the Golden Circle is the mighty Gullfoss waterfall. The southern end of the Kjölur Route goes right past this. And from there it’s also just a short drive to another main sight in the area: the Geysir geothermal field with its regularly erupting Strokkur geyser.
