Dverghamrar

About Dverghamrar

Dverghamrar, the Dwarf Cliffs, look like a row of giant stone pillars someone left at the edge of a hayfield. They stand right beside the Ring Road east of Kirkjubæjarklaustur in South Iceland, so this is one of the easiest geology stops on the whole south coast drive.

The Dverghamrar basalt columns formed when a lava flow cooled and contracted, cracking into regular pillars, some of them up to 1 m across. Above them sits a band of irregular, cube-jointed rock where the lava cooled faster. The Environment Agency of Iceland notes that the sea stood higher at the end of the last ice age, and waves are thought to have carved the cliffs into the shape you see today.

The name comes from folk belief. People in the area long said that dwarves and hidden people lived in these rocks, and one of the two information boards at the parking lot tells those stories while the other explains the geology. Farmers also used the cliffs as a sheep fold until the middle of the 20th century, and the site has been a protected natural monument since 1987.

Dverghamrar is on Route 1 about 12 km east of Kirkjubæjarklaustur, a drive of 10 to 15 minutes, and about 1 hour 15 minutes from Vík. The parking lot sits just off the highway, and a short loop path runs through the monument from there. The waterfall Foss á Síðu is just to the west, so you can see both from the same stop.

Plan on 15 to 30 minutes, and visit any time of year. Walking is only allowed on the marked paths inside the protected area, so stay off the slopes and the moss. The path is not suitable for wheelchairs.