Lóndrangar Pillars

West

Two basalt towers rise from the shoreline on the western Snæfellsnes peninsula: volcanic plugs left standing after the softer material of the original crater eroded away over thousands of years. The taller pillar stands 75 metres above the water, the shorter 61 metres. Both have been climbed — the taller first in 1735, the shorter not until 1938. Local folklore holds them to be trolls petrified by sunlight, and on a grey day the silhouettes do suggest frozen figures. The site is within Snæfellsjökull National Park. A short path from the car park leads to clifftop viewpoints framing both pillars against the glacier behind them. Puffins, kittiwakes, and fulmars nest in the rock face, and the surrounding lava coast has sea caves worth exploring. No facilities at the car park; Hellissandur is the nearest town. Lóndrangar fits naturally into a western peninsula loop — Djúpalónssandur beach is a few kilometres away, and the road continues around the tip past the glacier. Route 574 passes the turn-off on paved road. The pillars photograph well year-round; stormy weather adds atmosphere.

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