Askja and the Viti Crater Hike. A Journey through Otherworldly Landscapes

The Hike to the Viti Crater Hike by the Askja Volcano is one of those hikes in Iceland where you feel as if you’re on another planet, and not only for the hike. The whole drive to Askja is an experience in itself. Apart from the usual natural beauty of the desolated Icelandic highlands, you sometimes cross areas that look like what you’d imagine Mars or the Moon to be like.

The Viti Crater, with the Askja lake in the background.

Getting there, however, requires time and effort, but it’s worth it. It’s truly a unique, beautiful, and pristine volcanic landscape. The whole hiking trail is within the giant caldera of the Askja Volcano, which is 20 KM in diameter. Öskjuvatn, or Lake Askja, with its 4.5km diameter, is just the “smaller”, more recent caldera within the larger one. 

But I’ll leave an interesting article about the formation of the Askja caldera at the bottom of the page for those interested. For now, let’s get into the details on how to get there and about the hike to the beautiful Viti Crater. And across the unique landscape of the highlands to Askja.

A martian-like landscape along road f905, with Herðubreið in the background.

Table of Contents

Overview of the Viti Crater Hike in Askja  & Map

The Hike to the Viti Crater is an easy, relatively short hike on mostly flat terrain. It takes about 40-45 minutes to hike to the Viti Crater from the car park by the trailhead.

How to get to Askja and the Viti Crater trailhead and Parking

There are two main ways to reach Askja. The only shared requirement is that you have a vehicle approved by your rental company for use on F-roads. Some companies prohibit driving on certain F-roads, so be sure to check that beforehand. For example, some car or campervan rentals forbid taking Road F88 (Öskjuleið) because of a major, treacherous river crossing.

• Driving Directions: Road F905 to F910 is the most commonly used road, as there’s one major river crossing on Road F88, and some car rental companies prohibit driving on that road. YU can access road F905 via the gravel road 901, either from the East (here) or from the West (here). Make sure you fill up the tank before the drive.
• Parking: Free parking by Dreki or by the Viti Crater Trailhead.
• Public Transport: none, but there are several tours, especially from Myvatn or Akureyri, that can get you to Askja on a scenic bus ride into the highlands.

Also, the roads to Askja tend to open later in the year, anywhere from late June to early July; no way to know for sure. Then, they close again in mid-late September, usually. It’s also one of those places where it could snow any time of the year.

Driving Arnardalsleið (F905) to Askja)

The most common route to Askja is via Road F905 Arnardalsleið, which eventually merges onto Road F910 and leads to Dreki, the Askja Hut/Campsite. However, that doesn’t mean Road F905 is easy; it’s actually quite bumpy and a bit more challenging in some sections. There are also river crossings. The largest one is the first, so if you can get past that, you should be fine.

Make sure you have an adequate vehicle and familiarize yourself with river crossing techniques and the wading depth of your car before attempting this drive. I’d recommend a proper off-roader like a Land Cruiser for peace of mind when in the highlands. And, you get a 5% discount on Blue Car Rentals applied automatically if you book through The Photo Hikes.

Lastly, don’t set out before checking road conditions on Road.is and the weather forecast. Rivers can swell fast in the highlands after a rainfall.

The first river crossing on Road f905 to Askja.

After this, there are two smaller river crossings. Also, it’s from here that road F905 gets more difficult to drive. You’d mainly have to pay attention to your ground clearance in places, so drive slowly, carefully, and evaluate the best path through the rocks. The last part before reaching the hut is quite sandy and soft.

The hut has quite a large parking area, good facilities, and a communal dining room where you can purchase a small assortment of food/beverages and pay for camping.

Dreki

The drive, however, does not end at the Askja hut. Once you’ve reached Dreki, you’ll need to drive on Road F894 for a couple of Kilometers to the Viti Crater Trailhead. This part of the drive, however, is easy. You can also hike there, if you prefer.

At the end of F894, you’ll find another Vikraborgir parking area, which is the Viti Crater Trailhead.

Viti Crater Trailhead and Parking.

The Viti Crater Hiking Trail in Askja

From the parking by the Viti Crater Trailhead, a well-marked and well-maintained hiking trail leads through a lava field, on a gentle uphill slope. As you cross this slope, the views open up on the vast, volcanic, and desolate, but rather colorful, landscape of the Askja Volcano.

Viti isn’t visible from the trail, so you’d need to walk for about forty minutes across the mostly flat volcanic plain. Which, as you probably remember, is part of Askja’s caldera. Also, as you walk across this plain, you will probably notice the hollow sound of the ground below you. That is still an old lava field, so there likely are hollow areas between the volcanic rocks and below ground..

As you walk, you will notice some jagged mountains ahead of you. Those mountains are part of Öskjuvatn’s Caldera.

They are quite an impressive sight, even more so in contrast with the wide plain where the trail is. They are so big it’s hard to even imagine they are all part of the same gigantic volcanic crater. As it often happens in Iceland, the landscape will have you wondering about what kind of forces or sequence of geological events created such landscapes.

But back to the trail, you will first get a glimpse of Öskjuvatn, while the Viti Crater kind of appears suddenly in front of you as you walk toward the bigger lake. You can walk around the rim of the crater almost all the way around it, but not entirely, so I visited the eastern side and then the western one.

From the trail around the Viti Crater, you can access different viewpoints around Lake Askja too, both to the East and to the West of the Viti Crater.

Lastly, you can technically still bathe in the warm geothermal waters of the Viti crater, but I the time I visited it was not recommended to do it. It very steep walk down a muddy, slippery slope when it’s wet, and, due to the recent tectonic activity, the slopes have sometimes been at risk of rockfalls.

Askja and the Viti Crater Photos and Photography Tips

While the trail is easy and it’s just a long walk to the created, it’s a walk through some unique landscapes. Colorful and desolate volcanic landscapes, exactly like you’d expect in the highlands of Iceland. that creates opportunities for more abstract compositions between the shapes of the volcanic landscape and its color.</p>

The Crater Viti and its small geothermal lake are particularly colorful, too, though their color may vary based on how murky the water is and on the sunlight. On sunnier days, the color may be more intense.

In terms of lenses, I used anything between 14mm to 400, on full frame. It’s helpful to have an ultrawide lens by the Viti crater, as it is rather big and you are very close to it. 24mm just barely fits.

Longer telephoto lenses are useful to capture either the more colorful details in the landscape, or the more distant ones, and to use the compression effect to try and render the true size of this place.

Last but not least, there are plenty of unique places to stop and take photos on the way to Askja.

Where to stay

If you want to stay in he area, there is only one option, the Askja Hut can campsite. If you are planning to stay at the hut, you should book in advance. That’s not needed if you are camping. I did spend the night there in my tent. The campground is a bit on the rocky side, but I prefer that to grassy campgrounds in Iceland. There usually is little to no condensation.

Another great option is to spend the night at Möðrudalur either the night before or after driving to Askja. This is quite a popular choice for many planning to drive down road F905 and F910 to Askja.

Additional Resources

• Discover more Hikes in Iceland here.
• If you are interested in discovering more about the formation of the Askja caldera, here’s a good article to read.