Kjaran's Avenue Travel Guide

A 4x4 on Kjaransbraut. Photo: Oliagust, CC BY-SA 4.0

Kjaran's Avenue (Kjaransbraut, "Kjaran's road"), also called Svalvogavegur, is a narrow gravel track that rounds the mountainous peninsula between Dýrafjörður and Arnarfjörður in the Westfjords, from Keldudalur on the Dýrafjörður side past the Svalvogar lighthouse and Sléttanes to Lokinhamradalur and Stapadalur in Arnarfjörður.

For long stretches the track is a single vehicle wide, cut into the foot of sea cliffs, with the mountain on one side and the Atlantic directly below the other.

Key Takeaways About Kjaransbraut

• One-lane gravel track from Keldudalur in Dýrafjörður past Svalvogar lighthouse and Sléttanes to Lokinhamradalur and Stapadalur in Arnarfjörður.
• Built by bulldozer operator Elís Kjaran in the 1970s; reached Lokinhamrar in 1974. Registered today as Route 622, Svalvogavegur.
• High-clearance 4x4 only: fords, deep ruts and a beach section under Skútabjörg that floods at high tide.
• Season roughly late June to early September; the beach section is rebuilt each spring.
• Base yourself in Þingeyri (about 385 km, 5.5-6 hours from Reykjavík); no fuel or services on the route.

The road is named after Elís Kjaran, a bulldozer operator who carved it himself in the 1970s and maintained it for years afterwards.

It did not begin as a public works project; the Vesturgatan race organisers call it "a remarkable and long nationally famous bulldozer road, the private initiative of Elís Kjaran in the 1970s".

Before it existed, the farms of Lokinhamradalur were cut off by headlands that could only be passed at low tide; the road reached Lokinhamrar in 1974.

Today the Dýrafjörður side as far as Lokinhamrar is listed in the national road register as Route 622, Svalvogavegur, a gravel minor road (landsvegur); the stretch on to Stapadalur remains a track.

Why visit Kjaran's Avenue

The peninsula the road rounds is often called the Westfjords Alps, and the track threads between its peaks and the sea.

On the Dýrafjörður side the route follows the fjord to the mouth, passes the lighthouse at Svalvogar near the tip of the peninsula and turns south around Sléttanes.

On the Arnarfjörður side it runs under Skútabjörg, overhanging cliffs where the road is squeezed onto a rocky strip of beach that is covered at high tide.

Kjaransbraut between cliff and sea. Photo: Oliagust, CC BY-SA 4.0

Lokinhamradalur, a hemmed-in valley between high mountains and sea-steep slopes, was farmed into the 1990s; the last farmer left in 1999 and a documentary followed his final years.

Since 2006 the Vesturgatan running festival has used the road as its course every July, with the full 24 km run going from Stapadalur in Arnarfjörður around the peninsula to Sveinseyri near Þingeyri, plus shorter and double-distance versions.

How to get to Kjaran's Avenue

• Starting point: Þingeyri on Dýrafjörður is the usual base. From Reykjavík it is a long drive, roughly 385 km (240 miles) and 5.5 to 6 hours via Route 60 and the Dýrafjörður tunnel; from Ísafjörður about 50 minutes.
• The route: from Þingeyri follow Route 622 west along the south shore of Dýrafjörður to Keldudalur, then continue out to Svalvogar and around Sléttanes into Arnarfjörður. By the road register the gravel minor road runs about 22 km from the mouth of Haukadalur to Lokinhamrar, roughly 16 km of it beyond Keldudalur; the track then continues about 6 km to Stapadalur, where it rejoins a normal road. The Vesturgatan race covers 24 km from Stapadalur to Sveinseyri. From Stapadalur you can continue along Arnarfjörður to Hrafnseyri and Dynjandi, and return to Þingeyri over Hrafnseyrarheiði to make a loop.
• Vehicle: a high-clearance 4x4 is required. The Dýrafjörður side is a normal single-track gravel road, but the Arnarfjörður side is much rougher: all the river fords are on that side, the track is grassed between the wheel ruts with deep holes, and the beach section under Skútabjörg floods at high tide.
• Tides: time the Arnarfjörður beach section for low tide. At high tide the sea reaches the cliffs and the road is under water.
• Parking: there are informal pull-offs at Svalvogar lighthouse and in Lokinhamradalur. The road is one lane; never stop where you block it.

Lokinhamradalur valley on Arnarfjörður. Photo: Oliagust, CC BY-SA 4.0

Best time to visit

Late June to early September.

The beach section on the Arnarfjörður side has to be rebuilt every spring after winter storms and is often impassable again by late summer once the waves have worn it away, so July is the most reliable month.

Avoid driving it on Vesturgatan race day in mid-July. Outside summer the track is snowed in or washed out and should not be attempted.

Safety and practical tips

• Check conditions: ask locally in Þingeyri before setting out, and check road.is and safetravel.is. The beach section is rebuilt each spring and can be gone again by late summer.
• Rockfall: Skútabjörg overhangs the road and stones fall from it; the old place-name record warns not to linger beneath the cliffs. Do not stop under them.
• River fords: cross only where tracks show others have crossed, and never when rivers are high after rain.
• No services: there is no fuel, food or shelter on the route and mobile coverage is poor or absent for much of it. Fill up in Þingeyri and carry food and warm clothing.
• Passing: there are few passing places; be ready to reverse on a cliff-edge track.
• Fees and hours: no fee, no opening hours, but the road is only usable in summer.