“Landmannalaugar's mountains are streaked in red, green and gold — rhyolite hills around black lava fields and a natural hot spring, reachable only in summer over rivers you have to ford.”
About Landmannalaugar
The colours come from rhyolite, a volcanic rock rich in minerals that weather into the area's distinctive bands of ochre, pink and green. Long used by Icelanders as a stopping point with its warm spring, Landmannalaugar became the celebrated start of the Laugavegur trail to Thorsmork and a symbol of the country's roadless interior.
Overview Landmannalaugar, in the highlands of the Fjallabak Nature Reserve, is a place of rhyolite mountains streaked in red, ochre, green and pink, surrounded by black obsidian lava fields and fed by a natural hot spring you can bathe in. It is the northern trailhead of the Laugavegur, Iceland's most famous multi-day trek, and reachable only in summer over rough F-roads that ford rivers.
It is the northern trailhead of the Laugavegur, Iceland's most famous multi-day trek, and reachable only in summer over rough F-roads that ford rivers.
Highland Access There are no paved roads in. Reaching Landmannalaugar means a high-clearance vehicle or a highland bus, and the route includes unbridged river crossings — which is why it is closed for much of the year.
The Experience
After a jolting drive over gravel F-roads and through river fords, you arrive at a basin ringed by candy-striped mountains and crusted black lava. The reward after a day hike is the geothermal stream, where you can sit in warm water with the painted hills around you. Weather in the highlands turns fast, even in July.
Why It Matters
Landmannalaugar is the gateway to the Icelandic highlands and the Laugavegur trek, and the most vivid display of rhyolite landscape in the country. It represents the wild, roadless interior that most ring-road visitors never reach.
Landmannalaugar is the gateway to the Icelandic highlands and the Laugavegur trek, and the most vivid display of rhyolite landscape in the country.
Why Visit
The combination of multicoloured mountains, raw lava and a soakable hot spring is unmatched, and it is the launch point for Iceland's signature long-distance hike. Go in summer with the right vehicle or a highland bus, and be ready for abruptly changing weather.
✦ Insider Tips
- 1
Reach it only with a high-clearance 4x4 rated for river crossings, or take a scheduled highland bus.
- 2
Bring swimwear for the natural hot spring at the campsite — it is the classic reward after a hike.
- 3
Highland weather changes fast; pack windproof, waterproof layers even in midsummer.
- 4
It is the northern trailhead of the multi-day Laugavegur trek to Thorsmork if you want to go further.
