Gerðuberg Cliffs

About Gerðuberg Cliffs

The Gerðuberg cliffs are a long wall of basalt columns on the western edge of the Hnappadalur valley, just off Route 54 at the start of the Snæfellsnes peninsula in West Iceland. On a road trip into the peninsula they make one of the easiest first stops, and from Route 54 they look like a row of giant pencils stacked along the hillside.

Up close the regularity is almost hard to believe. Most columns stand 7 to 14 meters high and 1 to 1.5 meters across, pressed side by side like organ pipes. Unlike the basalt columns at Reynisfjara or Svartifoss, Gerðuberg rarely draws a crowd, and you can walk the whole length of the wall in peace.

Gerðuberg sits about 46 km north of Borgarnes, roughly 35 minutes away, and about an hour and three quarters from Reykjavík. A gravel side road of about 1 km leads from Route 54 to a small parking area at the foot of the cliff, and there is no entrance fee.

Give it 30 to 45 minutes, or longer if you climb the slope beside the columns for a view across the lava plain toward the coast, staying back from the edge where the rock is loose. The Gerðuberg basalt cliffs are worth a stop in any season: late afternoon light in summer brings out every crack between the columns, while in winter a cap of snow on each column top makes a strong photo, though the gravel road can be icy.

Landbrotalaug, a tiny natural hot pot, is only a few minutes away. Ytri-Tunga beach, where seals often haul out, is farther west along Route 54.