Saxhóll Crater

About Saxhóll Crater

Saxhóll Crater is a small cinder cone beside Route 574 in Snæfellsjökull National Park, near the western tip of the Snæfellsnes peninsula in West Iceland. A steel staircase runs straight up its side, so you can stand on the rim of a volcano after about ten minutes of climbing.

The national park lists the crater at about 40 meters high, which keeps the climb short. The Saxhóll Crater stairs were built in 2016 to stop the loose slopes from eroding into a web of paths, and they follow the old route in low steel modules, 396 steps over about 160 meters. In 2018 the design won the Rosa Barba International Landscape Prize, an unusual honor for a staircase.

From the rim you look over moss-covered lava running toward the Atlantic on one side and, on a clear day, up to the Snæfellsjökull glacier on the other. Most people are up and down in 20 to 30 minutes, including time for photos. That makes Saxhóll easy to fit into a loop of the peninsula with Djúpalónssandur beach and Svörtuloft lighthouse.

The drive from Reykjavík takes about three hours, and the parking lot is at the foot of the crater, right off the road. You can visit any time of year, though the stairs are exposed to the wind and can be icy in winter, so hold the rail. Clear weather is what makes the trip worthwhile, because the glacier view is the real reward.