Hverir (Námafjall)
Hverir / Námaskarð
Hverir, also called Námaskarð, is a high-temperature geothermal field at the base of Námafjall mountain east of Lake Mývatn, filled with bubbling mud pots, hissing fumaroles, and sulfur-crusted ground colored in reds, oranges, and yellows. Marked boardwalks let visitors walk directly among the steam vents, whose surface temperatures reach 80-100°C.
Region
North Iceland
Coordinates
65.6402° N, 16.8222° W
Important to know
- High danger
- Scalding mud pots, fumaroles, fragile hot ground, steam, sulfur fumes, and loose gravel make leaving marked paths dangerous.
Plan the stop
- Who it suits
- 4+
- Boiling mud pots, scalding ground, and sulfur fumes mean young children must be kept on the marked boardwalks at all times.
- Allow
- 45 min
Accessibility
- Wheelchair · Partial
- The geothermal field begins right at the car park and is largely flat, with wooden boardwalks and marked paths through the main area, but the ground beyond the boardwalks is loose gravel and uneven, so full wheelchair access is not guaranteed on every path.
- Limited mobility · Partial
- The main area is close to parking, but loose gravel, fumes, and the hillside route reduce accessibility.
- Sensory · Limited
- Strong sulfur smell, hissing steam, boiling mud, windblown vapor, and bright mineral colors can be intense.
- Cognitive · Partial
- The site is small but requires strict attention to marked paths and hot-ground boundaries.
Why it matters
The field sits within the active Krafla volcanic system, a roughly 10-km-diameter caldera on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge whose most recent eruptive episode, the 'Krafla Fires,' produced nine separate eruptions between 1975 and 1984. The ongoing fumarole and mud-pot activity at Hverir is a direct surface expression of this rift-zone geothermal system.