Leirhnjúkur Lava Fields: Amazing Iceland Hiking Trail Photos
Eerie hiking trail through the Leirhnjúkur Lava Fields near Myvatn, Northern Iceland.
The Leirhnjúkur Lava Fields is a bizarre landscape comprising of ash and steam. Completing the hiking trail, during the middle of the night, was one of my most amazing Iceland travel photography experiences.
The Leirhnjúkur Lava Fields, located within the Krafla volcanic caldera near Myvtan, is one of the youngest active lava fields in Iceland. The stunning 3.9 km (2.4 m) hiking trail takes you through a Mordor-like landscape filled with fumaroles, bubbling mud pools and neon-colored mineral deposits.
Formed as a result of the Krafla fires, a series of nine major eruptions that occurred within the Krafla caldera between 1975 and 1984, the Leirhnjúkur Lava Fields provides visitors with a fabulously surreal experience.
It’s a great place to witness the devastating transformation of a landscape after a significant volcanic eruption.
A caldera is a huge, sunken depression or collapsed volcanic bowl, formed after the emptying of a subterranean magma chamber following on from a catastrophic volcanic eruption.
Calderas are a kind of sinkhole that come about when the top of a volcano’s shallow magma chamber collapses after being emptied by an eruption.
Craters, on the other hand, are much smaller than calderas.
A crater is a vent or hole in the earth that’s formed as a result of localized volcanic activity or by impact from meteoroid, asteroid or comet debris.
The massive Krafka caldera is a 90 km (56 mi) long fissure zone that’s around 10 km (6.2 mi) in diameter.
Conversely, the Víti explosion crater, which I visited the day after my evening walk through the hellish Leirhnjukur Lava Fields, is about 300 meters in diameter.
Formed much earlier than the Leirhnjukur Lava Fields, the nearby Víti crater came about as a result of a volcanic event known as the Mývatn fires which occurred between 1724 and 1729.
The spectacular Víti crater sits inside the much larger Krafla caldera and features striking, turquoise-green water.
I very much enjoyed photographing from a variety of points while making my way around the hiking trail which leads visitors around the Víki crater rim.
Leirhnjúkur Lava Fields: How to Get There
Located 24 km northeast of Lake Mývatn, the Leirhnjukur Lava Fields can be accessed via Road 863, the turning point onto Road 863 being 6.5 km off the Ring Road.
Upon arrival at the car park you’ll find an information board with a decent map of the site, and restrooms at the trailhead.
I arrived at the Leirhnjúkur Lava Fields carpark, in the very early hours of the morning, after a very long day driving and making photos.
I was exhausted and more than ready for bed.
I pulled my campervan off the road and decided to settle in for the night. But I was restless.
The light looked promising and, while the lava fields were hidden from view and a decent walk from the car, I felt the need to get out and explore.
I put on my hiking boots, a warm jacket and, strapping on my camera backpack and tripod, headed out for the next few hours to explore the area.
The Leirhnjúkur Lava Fields Hiking Trail
I found the well-marked Leirhnjukur hiking trail to be a relatively easy loop hike that would take most folks about 1.5 hours to complete.
But I’m a photographer and I probably spent 3 or 4 hours exploring and taking photos, from the relative safety of the well defined trail.
Because of the bizarre landscape and the eerie light, the time I spent at the Leirhnjukur Lava Fields has been, quite frankly, one of the most amazing photography experiences of my life.
It would also be a great location to visit during daylight hours. But undertaking the hike, alone and after midnight, was a really incredible experience.
The hiking trail will take you through a landscape comprising yellow clay hills; aquamarine pools; steaming vents, known as fumaroles; and black lava flows.
The terrain isn’t all that hard to traverse, but make sure you stay on the marked trails as the underground steam vents and magna are very hot.
I remember having to move around a bit, while making photos with my camera secured to a tripod, to avoid the soles of my shoes from being melted while I was standing on the black ash trail.
I kid you not, the ground gets that hot. But as long as you stay on the trail, and don’t linger too long in any one place, you should be fine.
Having said that, the Leirhnjukur Lava Fields are definitely not recommended as a place for a casual picnic.
My advice is to enjoy the hike and the amazing, other worldly landscape, but don’t linger too long in any one spot.
Leirhnjúkur Lava Fields: It’s Mordor on Earth
What awaited me at the Leirhnjúkur Lava Fields was a harsh, eerie landscape made up, for the most part, of ash and steam.
A landscape riddled with fire and ash, it’s Mordor on earth.
Seriously, it's not hard to make the connection between the Land of Mordor and the amazing location depicted above.
Is it not J.R.R. Tolkien's vision brought to life?
And what a joy it was. I'm a huge fan of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. I've read the books at least four times since form three (year 9) at high school, and must have watched each of the three films around twenty times.
Have no doubt, the land of Mordor was very much in my mind and became an inspiration for the photos I made while making my way along the spectacular Leirhnjukur Lava Fields hiking trail.
After a while the sun began to rise and I turned around to made photos looking into the light.
The dynamic range (i.e., contrast) was extreme, but well suited to the eerie mood of the location.
Frankly, it was spooky!
I've written extensively on this site about how fantastic a location Iceland is for landscape photography. Some of my favorite posts include the following:
I expect to return to Iceland, for my third extended adventure, and I’m just waiting for the stars to align before I do.
How To Photograph the Leirhnjúkur Lava Fields
I vividly remember making the photo as the top of this post. I was at least half way into the hike and had already made quite a few photos.
Being careful where I stepped, due to the heat coming up through the ground, I searched for a suitable location that would allow me to make a compelling image as the sun began to rise.
Rather than photographing the rising sun, I positioned myself behind a hillside and hoped that the sun's rays would do the following:
Add color to the low lying clouds
Illuminate the sky above and the wispy vapors floating up through tiny vents in the surface of the earth
My plan worked a treat and I’m really happy with this image which I made at 1/60 second, at an aperture of f/8 with my camera set to ISO 100.
To avoid the fumes, spiriting up through the ground, I stood back and employed my Canon 70-200 mm f4 L series IS lens with a Canon 1.4X Extender attached. The resulting focal length was 254 mm.
The sense of compressed space that results from the use of a relatively strong focal length (i.e., 254 mm) is evident in the lack of perceived depth between the foreground fumes and the sulphur colored sky.
By bringing the two closer together I feel the sense of menace within the image is heightened.
Despite the extremely high dynamic range of the scene I was photographing, I was able to use composition to produce a compelling image that consists, in roughly equal amounts, of opposites which can be described as follows:
dark and light
earth and air
gas (sulphur fumes and the color of the sky) and ash
Sheep, ash and fumes, Leirhnjúkur Lava Fields, Krafla volcanic area, North Iceland.
Sheep Grazing, Leirhnjúkur Lava Fields, Iceland
I spent quite a lot of time during this middle section of the hike photographing from the black ash trail, after which I continued along the hiking trail loop back to the carpark.
One of the last areas I photographed was this surreal scene of sheep, grazing on a tiny patch of grass, overlooking the landscape of the Krafla volcanic area beyond the ash and fumes of the Leirhnjúkur Lava Fields.
I photographed the sheep with my then Canon full frame mirrorless camera, with a Canon 70-200mm f/4 L series lens attached.
The image was made at ⅛ second, at an aperture of f/8 with my camera set to ISO 100.
I love the 3-dimensionality of this image and the way the warm sunrise rakes across the landscape.
I feel the image provides a more hopeful, albeit a little less dramatic, view compared to the ones I'd be exploring earlier.
The sheep provide a sense of scale to the landscape, though I had to make several photos before I got one where the little blighters weren’t moving around.
The photo I chose shows both sheep standing, quite resolutely, looking back towards the camera.
To achieve that particular pose, I bleated like a fool till the sheep turned their heads around to look at me.
After a moment they’d lost interest, and got back to grazing. But I’d make my photo and was happy that no one saw me doing so.
This is the best photography course in Melbourne. Learn photography, master your camera and realize your creative potential by making beautiful, life affirming images.
I’m Glenn Guy, an experienced teacher and owner of the Travel Photography Guru website and blog.
Here’s the private photography course that’s specially designed around your needs, your camera and the photos you most want to create.
Leirhnjúkur Lava Fields: Explore Your Creativity
I think that, over the years, I've developed the ability to judge the success of my photos from a relatively objective viewpoint.
But that's not to say that I don't form attachments to certain images, particularly those that were difficult to make. In that regard I'm no different to anybody else.
I think the success of the photos in this post can be described as follows:
fascinating subject matter
amazing light
the very early hour of the day
being alone allowed me to work in a relatively unrestricted manner
a desire to explore and take on a degree of risk
my state of near exhaustion, after a very long day driving, and the physical difficulty associated with the location
strong composition
my love of middle earth and the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien
What was then, more than 30 years in the photography industry and many travel adventures along the way
It takes more than great gear to make a compelling photo.
And no, you don't need many years of photography experience nor many years in the school of hard knocks to be able to make a great photo.
My point is that our photos contain our life's experience, who we are and what we've done with the opportunities presented to us.
At the end of the day the life we've lived and our worldview have a great deal to do with who we are.
And who we are is, to my mind, the biggest determinant in the photos we make.
Just don't discount determination, moderate risk and sheer hard work as major components in your ability to make great photos.
In that regard photography is just like any other worthwhile endeavour. What you get out of photography is in direct proportion to what you put in.
I hope you find your way to Iceland before too long.
If you do, and your journey takes you to Myvatn, in the north of the country, I recommend spending time exploring the Krafla volcanic area, including visits to the Leirhnjúkur Lava Fields and the Víti crater.
You won’t regret it. They’re amazing places in which to explore your creativity through the art of photography.
