Öxnadalur Valley

Öxnadalur

North Iceland

Driving west from Akureyri on Route 1, Öxnadalur opens with knife-edged peaks on either side, old farms on the valley floor, and the jagged silhouette of Hraundrangi dominating the skyline. That peak — its name means "Steeple Rock" — rises to around 1,075 meters; its shape was sharpened by glacial erosion and the collapse of the mountain's flank at the end of the last Ice Age, and it looks unlike anything else along this stretch of the ring road. The valley has literary weight. The farm Hraun, visible below the mountain, was the birthplace of Jónas Hallgrímsson, the 19th-century poet and naturalist central to Iceland's national identity. His poem "Ferðalok" is partly an ode to this landscape, and a small museum at the farm marks his memory. There are no fees; you pull off Route 1 at a viewpoint and spend about 45 minutes taking it in. The mountain pass Öxnadalsheiði can close during severe winter storms — check road.is before traveling in January or February. The rest of the year the drive is straightforward on paved road.

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