The Otherworldly Landmannalaugar: Brennisteinsalda Volcano
A 3 hour drive from Reykjavik, Landmannalaugar, in Iceland’s highlands, is considered one of the best hiking spots in the country, and I could argue in the world!
The mountains in Landmannalaugar are colorful with rhyolite, with hues of red, green and blue amongst the sand colored mountains due to the high silica content being mixed with other minerals. It is also the trailhead for the famous Laugavegur trail. The Laugavegur trail is just over 32 miles and it typically takes people 3-5 days to complete. It ends in Þórsmörk, at which you can end the trail or continue on the Fimmvörðuháls trail to Skógar.
To get to Landmannalaugar you can either drive with a F-Road approved vehicle, or take a highland bus. You can come here just for the day, or you can stay overnight as there is a campground and a hut that sleeps 78 people. For the geothermal lovers, there is also a hot spring on the edge of the campsite!
There are multiple day hikes you can do from here, but I took a highland bus in-out on the same day so I did not have a huge amount of time to explore. The hike I did was to the top of Brennisteinsalda. This volcano is 855 meters and is considered an active volcano, and last erupted in 1961.
Brennisteinsalda
The route on All Trails says that this is a 5.4 mile hike, and while I did a loop, there was part of the trail that I did not do that goes along the base of Bláhnjúkur mountain.
You’ll start behind the hut at Landmannalaugar and you instantly are going uphill to get on top of the lava field. Then it is level ground until you leave the lava field and you are right beside Brennisteinsalda. You’ll continue to climb towards the steam vents and then veer right and you’ve got a more intense uphill climb from here. To reach the summit you will see a sign with three tall directional markers, and a short one that leads to Brennisteinsalda.
Once you’ve enjoyed your time up top, to continue the loop you will head towards Vondugil. This part of the trail is downhill and not as steep as the way up. Eventually you’ll take a right turn to head into the valley which will lead you back to the lava field that you started on. To get into the valley there is a very short (like 10 feet) section to get down, and when I was there it had very loose dirt- so just be careful here!
Now that you’re in the valley, you will see short trail markers to the left of a narrow stream that runs along your righthand side of the valley. At the end of the valley, take a left to head back onto the lava field towards the hut and campground.
