Haukadalur

About Haukadalur

Haukadalur is a valley in South Iceland that runs north from Route 35, with the Geysir geothermal area at its mouth and a national forest behind it. Most Golden Circle visitors stand at the Strokkur ropes for 20 minutes and leave without knowing they were in it.

The Haukadalur geothermal area holds Strokkur, which erupts every few minutes, and the Great Geysir that gave every geyser its name, though it now rarely blows. Paths loop past clear blue pools such as Blesi and Konungshver, and the water in them is close to boiling, so stay on the trail. Walking into the field is free, and the Geysir parking lot sits right beside Route 35.

Behind the hot springs, Haukadalsskógur is one of the largest national forests in the south. In 1938 the Danish businessman Kristian Kirk bought the eroded land, and two years later it passed to the Icelandic Forest Service, which planted the birch and conifers you see today. The Svartagil trail is the most popular walk, and a wheelchair-accessible path was built with Sjálfsbjörg, the Icelandic disability association.

To reach the forest, turn off just past the geothermal field and follow a gravel road for about 1 km to Haukadalur church. Centuries before the trees, this was a seat of the powerful Haukdælir clan and an early school, where Ari the Wise, author of the first history of the Icelanders, grew up.

Most trips to Haukadalur start in Reykjavík, about two hours' drive away, and Gullfoss is roughly 10 km farther up the road. Give the hot springs 45 minutes, then add an hour or two in the forest if you want the valley without the tour-bus crowds. All year, early morning and evening are the quietest times at Strokkur.