Visit Kerið Crater Lake
0.3 miles
- Loop Trail
Added by Colette M
Kerið Crater Lake is a picturesque (and overlooked) rest stop along the Golden Circle in Iceland.
Kerið Crater is located in southern Iceland, along the popular golden circle. It is about 15km north of Selfoss, off of highway 35.
The caldera was formed not by an explosion, but by the depleting levels of magma which collapsed the volcanic cone into the emptied magma chamber. The brightly colored, sapphire water at the bottom of the crater is about the same level as the water table and is not the result of rainfall. The red earth surrounding the crater lake is also a beautiful contrast to the water at the bottom.
The crater is about 55m deep and 3,000 years old.
There is an entrance fee of ~400 IKR. Enjoy the short walk around the crater and one down into the caldera.
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Overall rating:
Cool stop
A worthwhile stop if it’s on your route, but I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to see Kerið. It’s a cool sight to see but I wish it was farther from the highway and didn’t have such an easily accessible parking lot. Big crowd in the tourist season.
3.0
Easy Hike, Massive Views
Kerið Crater is really interesting to see in person. The size of the crater is very impressive, bu it's still very accessible, located just off the side of the road. You can hike around the entire crater in less that 10 minutes, but I recommend taking your time to take in the views from everything around you.
4.0
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