Line © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), checked by Global Adventurer.
The walk
From the car park walk onto the boardwalk, cross the footbridge over the warm stream and follow the upper boardwalk west along the steaming, clay-coloured slope. At its far end, at the top of the steps, take the path that leaves the boardwalk and climbs south-west across the hillside, past patches of hot ground, to a saddle. Bear west up the short ridge to the top of Hverafjall, 308 m, looking down on the green crater lake Grænavatn and along Kleifarvatn. Return the same way.
It is 2.3 km there and back with 159 m of ascent; allow about an hour. The grade is Easy: a boardwalk, then a steep path, loose near the top.
Boiling water and mud lie under a thin crust: stay on the boardwalk and the marked path, and keep children close. Nothing on this walk is closed, but the Met Office expects a new eruption on the Sundhnúkur crater row, about 15 km to the west, and roads on the peninsula can be shut at short notice: check safetravel.is on the day.
Parking costs 750 ISK a day for a car, collected by Checkit from the number plate; stays under ten minutes are free. Seltún is on road 42, about 40 km from Reykjavík; in winter the road past Kleifarvatn is cleared only on set days. No bus serves Krýsuvík.
Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.
Good to know
- Seltún is a high-temperature geothermal field in the Krýsuvík volcanic system: mud pots, steam vents and clay stained yellow, red and green
- Sulphur was dug here in past centuries; today a boardwalk is the safe way across the hot ground
- Hverafjall, the 308 m hill above the springs, looks over the green crater lake Grænavatn and along Kleifarvatn
- Seltún is on road 42, about 40 km from Reykjavík by way of Hafnarfjörður
Getting there
Start: Seltún car park. 63.89563, -22.05199
Directions to the start
Paths change, and the weather decides the day. The line and figures come from OpenStreetMap and our own checks; take a map, check the forecast, and turn back if it isn't right.