By Lake Hvaleyrarvatn you can do a beautiful hike with a view over a lake and moss covered lava fields with mountains in the distance. It’s especially gorgeous during lupin season when lupin fields add a lovely blue colour to the environment.
Lake Hvaleyrarvatn is located right outside the capital area. A very popular recreational area. A nice place where the locals can add some nature to their day. It’s a short drive from the city (especially from Hafnarfjörður) and therefore perfect for a short walk, a bike tour or longer hikes.
The Lake Hvaleyrarvatn Area is Extra Beautiful During Lupin Season
It’s nice to visit Lake Hvaleyrarvatn and its surroundings in any season, but my favourite time of year is during lupin season. Then the blue lupin fields add a beautiful blue colour to their environment. Unfortunately the lupin season is quite short or only about 3 weeks. From sometime in June (or as early as late May) to early July (differs a bit). Way too short in my opinion, but that is a whole other story.
The locals use the area to walk, hike, run or ride a mountain bike. Some just stroll around the lake which isn’t that big (about 2km/1.2mi walk) while others take advantage of the many other trails spread all over the area.
These many trails are unfortunately not well marked though. By that I mean there are almost no signs that tell you where each trail leads you. Which is a bit unfortunate. The trails themselves are clearly visible though so technically you can just pick one and see where it leads you. May sound a bit risky but it’s hard to get lost in this area. Worst case scenario you’ll take a longer walk/hike than you intended.
That being said, I suggest you try out a trail I really like there. It’s a looped trail with a short detour to the top of the hill right by the lake. This trail is especially beautiful during lupin season but of course it can be enjoyed year round.
A Track for My Version of a Hike in the Area
I’ve now started to track some of my hikes on Wikiloc and you’ll find a track for this trail on there. If you don’t know what Wikiloc is, it’s an app for outdoors trails. Very handy when the trail isn’t well marked and/or you’re in an area you don’t know very well and therefore need a little guidance. Like in this case. I recommend you to check it out.
I named this trail “Lake Hvaleyrarvatn by siggadottir” and you can find it here
The hike is about 5.6km/3.5mi and I would categorise it as easy. From the parking lot, you start with following a gravel road. Pretty soon you turn off the road to the left and start walking up a hill between the trees. When you reach the top of the hill you are rewarded with a very good view over the lake and some moss covered lava fields.
When you’ve seen enough, you walk back down again to the gravel road. Walk a few meters down the road and then turn off to the left, to a trail that leads you to a bigger hill called Stórhöfði. From the top of that hill you’ll have a great view over the surrounding mountains and lava fields.
From here it’s no more uphill. Just an easy walk through lava and lupin fields (possibly in bloom) and some mountains in the distance. This hike ends with a short walk along the lake and the loop closes at the parking lot where you started the hike.
I’ve done this hike a few times and always done it anticlockwise. I actually don’t know why. When I come to think of it, it might even be better to do it clockwise. Might give you a better view of the mountains during one part of the hike. Not sure. Will try that next time 🙂
Winter Wonderland
As I said before, Hvaleyrarvatn is nice to visit in all seasons even though summer (and especially lupin season) is my favorite. I also go there in winter and once I was there in extremely gorgeous conditions where everything looked like a winter wonderland.
Everything was frosted. So beautiful. And pretty rare here in Iceland I think, as I don’t remember seeing this often. It must be some very special weather conditions that make this happen. This winter walk around the lake was simply stunning as you can see in the pictures.
How to Get to Lake Hvaleyrarvatn
The simplest thing to do is to use google maps. Write “Hvaleyrarvatn” in the search and choose the result that says “Hvaleyrarvatn Bílastæði Vestur, Göngustígur Hafnarfjörður”. Then you’ll be navigated to the bigger parking lot by the lake. The spot where the trail I told you about, starts.
There is also a smaller parking lot at the other end of the lake. By a small beach where kids love to play in the water. If you’d rather park there, you write “Hofdaskogur” to the search and google maps will take you to that parking lot (the result you get is “Höfðaskógur, Hvaleyrarvatnsvegur, Hafnarfjordur).
The lake’s proximity to the capital area is very convenient. Yet another example of how close you always are to stunning nature while in Iceland. Gotta love it!
This hike I suggested is just an idea of what you can do in the area. If you don’t feel like or don’t have the time for doing a 5.6km/3.5mi hike, you can always do a shorter one. Walk around the lake or just do a part of the hike I suggested. A great shorter alternative for example, is to walk to the top of the hill behind the lake and back (the first part of the track). The choice is yours. I just hope I managed to inspire you to visit the area one day 🙂
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Until next time!
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