Eldborg Crater

About Eldborg Crater

Eldborg crater rises 60 meters out of a flat, moss-covered lava field in West Iceland, so neat and steep-sided that it looks shaped by hand. The Eldborg crater hike is short enough for most travelers, and the view down into the bowl rewards the final scramble.

This is Eldborg í Hnappadal, at the eastern end of the Snæfellsnes peninsula, and it shares its name with another crater in Bláfjöll near Reykjavík and a concert hall in Harpa. The Environment Agency describes it as an oval about 200 meters long and 50 meters deep. Two eruptions built it, the later one most likely during the Settlement Age, and it sits in the middle of the Eldborgarhraun lava field you walk across. It has been a protected natural monument since 1974.

The trail starts at Snorrastaðir, a farm off Route 54 about 38 km north of Borgarnes, where there is a parking lot, toilets and cabins. From there, a marked 3.4 km path crosses scrub-covered lava to the foot of the crater. The last stretch is steep and loose, with chains to hold on the way up and down.

Plan on 1 to 2 hours for the round trip, plus time on the rim. On a clear day the view runs from Snæfellsjökull all the way to Reykjanes. Reykjavík is about 110 km away, or around 1 hour and 45 minutes by car, so Eldborg fits easily into a day on Snæfellsnes.

The area is open all year, though heavy snow can make the trail hard to follow in winter. Vehicles are banned inside the reserve, so stay on the marked path and leave the moss alone. Wind gusts are a known hazard on this route, so pick a calm day if you can.