Hofsjökull

Highlands

Iceland's third-largest ice cap, Hofsjökull covers around 830 square kilometers of the central highlands and rises to 1,782 meters at its highest point. Beneath the ice sits the country's largest active central volcano — a caldera the glacier conceals entirely. The combination makes Hofsjökull both geologically significant and almost entirely unvisited: there are no tourist facilities on the ice, and reaching it requires expedition-level planning. The practical way to see it is from the Kjölur route (Route 35), which crosses the highlands between Geysir and Akureyri and passes close enough for a clear view of the white dome above the plateau. The route is open in summer, typically from late June, and passable without a 4x4 in reasonable conditions. Hofsjökull feeds several major rivers, including Þjórsá, Iceland's longest. Most drivers cover the Kjölur route in a long single day (around 200 km end to end), stopping at Kerlingarfjöll and the Hveravellir hot spring oasis along the way. The glacier is visible for much of the southern half of that drive.

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