Laugahraun Lava Field Trail
The first thing you notice is the silence, then the smell — a faint sulfur drift carried on whatever wind the highlands are sending that morning. The Laugahraun lava field sits at the edge of the Landmannalaugar campsite, a frozen black sea of obsidian-rich rhyolite that spilled out of Brennisteinsalda around 1477 and has barely softened since.
The trail loop takes two hours at most, often less, and it asks almost nothing of your legs. What it does ask is that you pay attention: to the moss colonising crevices in colours that have no business existing next to all that black rock, to the steam rising from vents near Brennisteinsalda's base, to the plateau where the mountain and Bláhnúkur open up on either side of you.
💛 What travellers fall for
People who return to Landmannalaugar for longer trails — Laugavegur, Bláhnúkur — often walk Laugahraun the evening they arrive, when the day-trippers have thinned out. The light at 9 or 10 pm in July sits low and amber across the lava, and the fumarole steam catches it differently than it does at noon.
The story behind Laugahraun Lava Field Trail
Laugahraun — the name translates roughly as 'the hot spring lava flow' — is the youngest surface expression of the Torfajökull volcanic system, one of Iceland's largest rhyolitic complexes. The flow that created the field came from Brennisteinsalda around 1477, adding a new layer to a landscape already shaped by thousands of years of eruptions from the same system.
The result is unusually mineral-rich lava: dark, glassy, fractured into formations that catch and hold the eye. The obsidian content is high enough that the rock has sharp edges even after five and a half centuries of highland weather. The trail itself was formalised as part of the broader Landmannalaugar trail network, making the geological record accessible without requiring technical skill.
Good to know
The trailhead starts at the Landmannalaugar campsite car park. A 4x4 is required to drive in; buses from Reykjavik (Trex or Reykjavik Excursions) take about four hours. Between June 20 and September 13, self-drivers must pre-book parking for arrivals between 9 am and 4 pm. No entrance fee. The loop is clearly marked with orange posts.
The main hiking window runs June through September; July and August offer the most reliable conditions, with snow clear of the waymarks and buses running regularly. Expect temperatures around 7–12°C even in midsummer, with wind and rain appearing without much warning. From October the access roads close and the field returns to a harsher version of itself.
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What travellers say about Laugahraun Lava Field Trail
Great hike, and a great place for photography.
Breathtaking.
Amazing lava field!
A place to see absolutely
For me - No.1 in Iceland!
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