Lyngdalsheiði, a Volcano Viewpoint
Lyngdalsheiði, a Volcano Viewpoint
Connecting Þingvellir and Geysir is a scenic drive across Lyngdalsheidi heath. There are several points where you can draw off the road for a fantastic view over the mountains in the distance. See the volcano Hekla and beyond that a mountain ridge where the highest point, at 1,666m, is the infamous Eyjafjallajokull volcano that blew its top in 2010.
Lyngdalsheidi is itself a volcano though it doesn't look convincingly like one! Shield volcanoes are formed in Hawaiian type eruptions that produce thin, fast-flowing basalt lava usually from a single vent. The lava layers pile up gently one on top of another around the vent but because the lava flows fast, the crater rarely exceeds an angle of slope of 8 degrees. The prototype of shield volcanoes, Skjaldbreiður (broad shield) is sited in the valley north of Þingvellir.