Gunnuhver Geothermal Area
Gunnuhver Geothermal Area
Gunnuhver, accessed by a gravel track from road 425, is an interesting geothermal area that boasts Iceland’s largest boiling mud pool measuring 20m across.
There is a boardwalk with two viewing platforms. ‘The hot spring of Gunna’ is named after a local female ghost whose story is told on the sign by the hot spring.
Being a volcanically active area the landscape here is continually changing.
Steam rises from the ground, hot springs, and mud pots boil, and fumaroles expel hissing steam with the unmistakable smell of sulfur.
Mineral deposits from the steam have transformed the surrounding basalt rock, originally black or dark grey, into a marvelously colored canvas of yellow, orange, red and grey.
Behind the hot spring area, surplus water running off a geothermal power plant has formed a turquoise lagoon, very much like the one at the famous Blue Lagoon spa near Keflavik. For your safety, stay on the path!