One of my favourite things to do in Iceland when the sun is shining is visiting the geothermal areas. There is one geothermal area in South Iceland, by Ölkelduháls and Ölkelduhnúkur, which I had meant to visit for many years.
See also: A Local's Favourite Geothermal Areas in Iceland.
But we were always in a hurry when visiting the towns Hveragerði and Selfoss, or when going further east and returning home late, so we always passed the sign Ölkelduháls on the Hellisheiði heath, saying, "We must visit this geothermal area soon."
The beautiful new center in Selfoss town
We finally succeeded in visiting this beautiful geothermal area on a sunny day in July. It was our wedding anniversary, and we had just returned home after visiting the new center in Selfoss.
The sun barely sets in June and July here in Iceland, so it was still sunny when we returned. So we made a quick decision to visit this geothermal area, finally.
The information sign by the beginning of the hike to Reykjadalur - we arrived there at 19:15
We turned off Ring Road 1 on Hellisheiði heath onto a gravel road.
The road turned out to be a bad, coarse gravel road with many potholes, so one has to drive slowly.
When we had driven on this road for a couple of minutes, we saw a big truck approaching us from the opposite direction. And it was moving pretty fast!
There was no way that we could meet this truck without being driven off the road!
Klambragil gorge
I was both worried and wondering what a big truck like this was doing on this narrow road.
But as we met, for some strange reason, in that very spot, there was enough space for us to drive off the road so that the truck could pass.
We stopped the car at the beginning of the hike to Reykjadalur valley because we saw in the distance many big trucks and filming was in process in the exact geothermal area, where we were headed.
There are many hot springs in this geothermal area
So we decided to go for a hike and have a peek into Reykjadalur valley from above, and hoped that the filming crew would be gone soon, as it was getting late.
The hike from the parking lot to the Reykjadalur path is only 1 km, and we saw a couple of hot springs on the way. And we met several people coming from the valley after bathing in the warm river.
I have shown you the very popular Reykjadalur valley, where you can bathe in a warm river, in another travel blog:
Reykjadalur Valley - Bathe in a Hot River in South Iceland
Here, the film crew was filming - see the difference between visiting geothermal areas in the sunshine or in the shadow
Sure enough, when we returned from a peek into Reykjadalur, we saw the crew wrapping up and the trucks leaving.
From a distance, we noticed men raking over the footsteps they had left in the geothermal area.
And when we reached this area, one Icelander was still raking and tidying up. He told us that they had been filming a scene for a Viking film, an Icelandic and foreign co-production. I wonder if it was a scene from the movie The Northman?
Now that we were alone in the geothermal area, we hiked through several colourful spots beautifully lit up by the evening sun.
We started in this spot, where they had been filming. I have no idea what it is called, but we were engulfed in beautiful orange colours.
Almost everywhere I looked, the earth was hissing and boiling.
Bright geothermal colours
Be careful here, we don't want to step into a hot spring or a boiling mud pool.
Accidents sometimes happen in geothermal areas if people are not careful and stray off the paths.
My mother told me that when she was a girl, she had witnessed a man accidentally step into a hot spring, and his skin peeled off immediately, as if he had been wearing pantyhose!
Bubbling mud pools
There are many hikes in the Hengilsvæði area, where the massive Hengill volcanic mountain range covers an area of approximately. 100 km².
The volcano last erupted some 2,000 years ago, but you can see from the boiling ground that it is still active. And the Hengilsvæði area is a high-temperature geothermal area.
We Icelanders use this geothermal heat, and the two largest geothermal power plants in Iceland, Hellisheiðarvirkjun and Nesjavallavirkjun, harness the energy and deliver it, for example, to Reykjavík, where I live.
See also my travel blog: A colourful Hike through the Nesjalaugar and Köldulaugar Geothermal Areas in SW-Iceland.
Orange and yellow geothermal colours
There are some folktales connected to this area, e.g., The temperamental Giantess Jóra in Jórukleif and the Lava Pots by Selfoss in South Iceland.
She terrorized this neighbourhood until the area became deserted.
In my travel blog, I tell you her story and how the way she was killed gave a name to the Öxará river at Þingvellir national park.
Hiking signs at Ölkelduháls
By the time we reached this sign, we saw we were only a few kilometers away from Klambragil in Reykjadalur, but we had already seen that gorge from above.
I have shown you Kambragil in my Reykjadalur travel blog. It is a beautiful spot with a geothermal area, right above the warm river in which you can bathe.
And inside the gorge, you will hear boiling hot springs inside the rock, which make a very distinct sound.
We just followed the trail, which was marked with blue sticks. There was no arrow pointing in that direction, but we could see some hot springs further on.
The grey coloured hot spring
The first hot spring that we visited had a metallic grey colour. I have no idea what it is called or if it has even got a name.
It is strange, but on the Icelandic maps, which I use for placenames, there are no names for the individual hot springs in this area. I guess that they were never given a name.
It is a pity as names add value to the landscape, or as we say in Icelandic: "Landslag yrði lítils virði, ef það héti ekki neitt".
But as you can see in my Hveravellir travel blog, all the hot springs have a name: Hveravellir - the beautiful Oasis in the Highland of Iceland.
The colourful outflow from the hot spring
What caught my attention when I visited this hot spring was the colourful spot in the photo above, so I zoomed in on it.
Here was an outflow from the hot spring, more of a drizzle really, and there was a build-up of geothermal clay with many geothermal colours.
A beautiful blue hot spring
The next hot spring we encountered was only a stone's throw away, a beautiful powder blue hot spring, and the whole area around it was hissing and boiling, and steam was coming from the ground.
The silence in this area was eerie, with only the sounds of boiling water.
Boiling water and melted clay create bubbles on the surface, which I have always loved photographing. The details in geothermal areas can be so beautiful.
Be careful when visiting geothermal areas, as sulfur fumes can be poisonous and can cause a nasty headache and dizziness.
That happened to me once in the Hverir geothermal area up north when the wind was so strong that it blew the fumes straight at me. I had a bad headache for 2 days afterward!
Bubbles in the blue hot spring
The path went on further into the valley, but here we returned as it was getting late and the sun was disappearing behind the mountains.
And we don't want to be stuck in geothermal areas at dusk or after dark, that is for sure. One false step in the dark in geothermal areas can be fatal.
Alone in a beautiful geothermal area
My husband had left me to get the car, which we had left by the information signs at the beginning of the hike to Reykjadalur valley, so I wandered around alone and visited yet another hot spring.
This one was also powder blue, but much larger than the other ones.
This was a beautiful area, my favourite one on this hike. And of course, the setting sun added magic to this geothermal area.
Here I can see two fairytale figures kissing - and my shadow
I was absolutely mesmerized by this sight and the stillness.
Yet, I was fully aware that we were losing the light and that I had to hurry so I wouldn't be stuck there in the darkness.
I walked to the end of this geothermal area as something drew me to this spot in the photo above.
I could see two faces, and I can clearly see a woman in a long dress and a man in a cape about to kiss. I don't know if you can see it.
It was our wedding anniversary, but this moment was the highlight of my day, and I sat down for just a moment to breathe in the stillness and beauty.
On my way back to the road, I saw an old sheep pen called Ölkelduhálsrétt.
This old pen was built in 1908, and the information sign states that it stands on the boundary line between the Grafningshreppur and Ölfushreppur rural districts.
Here, sheep were rounded up three times in the spring from the surrounding mountains. The sheep pen was in use until 1930.
Ölkelduhálsrétt sheep pen
Ölkelda means mineral spring, and the name refers to a couple of mineral springs in Ölkelduháls.
I didn't see them, as they were on the opposite side of the road, and it was getting dark. I would love to spend a whole day in this area and explore it better.
We hurried back on the coarse road, and all of a sudden, we saw heavy fog creeping in on us!
There is often fog on Hellisheiði heath, but this looked plain right creepy. What if the fog had reached us when we were still visiting the geothermal area!
Geothermal landscape lit up by the setting sun - Ölkelduháls to the left
So we drove fast on the road, jumping up and down because of all the potholes. We wanted to reach Ring Road 1 before the fog engulfed us!
We managed to reach Ring Road 1 just in the nick of time and drove in the fog all the way to Hveradalir valley, where the fog lifted as we descended from the mountain.
Visiting this geothermal was such a wonderful experience, but as I have mentioned, the road is awful. Next time around, I am going to hike up to Reykjadalur valley and hike from there to Ölkelduháls.
I zoomed in on the information sign - do you see all the bullet holes which make it difficult to see some of the names :(
The location of Ölkelduhnúkur and Ölkelduháls on Map.is.
Here is a map of the Hengill area so you can see this area without bullet holes.
I have shown you other geothermal areas in the Hengilsvæði area, which have so many interesting hikes:
A colourful Hike through the Nesjalaugar and Köldulaugar Geothermal Areas in SW-Iceland
Reykjadalur Valley - Bathe in a Hot River in South Iceland
A fantastic Helicopter ride with Norðurflug to a Geothermal Area in South Iceland
And another steaming area I visited at sunset: Beautiful sunset at Eldvörp Row of Craters on the Reykjanes Peninsula in SW-Iceland
Have a lovely time in South Iceland :)
