Description
Summary
Description
Visit Kerid Crater, a volcanic caldera with red rock walls and a blue-green lake, with this admission ticket for a self-guided stop on the Golden Circle route.
Kerid Crater formed more than 6,500 years ago. After a volcanic eruption, a cone-shaped volcano collapsed when its magma reserve was depleted, leaving the crater you see today. Over time, it filled with water, forming a lake in the caldera.
The caldera is 886 feet (270 meters) in diameter, with steep walls up to 180 feet (55 meters) high. The lake at the bottom is about 23 to 45 feet (7 to 14 meters) deep, depending on the time of year and recent rainfall.
Kerid Crater is about an hour's drive, or 37 miles (60 kilometers), from Reykjavik and a 25-minute drive from Thingvellir National Park. It lies 9.3 miles (15 kilometers) north of Selfoss Town along Highway 35, a short detour from the Golden Circle route. Free parking is right next to the crater.
From the parking area, it's a short walk of a few minutes to the crater. You can walk around the rim in about 10 to 20 minutes, with views of the surrounding landscape and distant mountains on clear days. A path also leads down to the water, where you can take a 20-minute loop walk around the lake.
The crater changes with the seasons. In summer, the red volcanic rock contrasts with green moss, while in winter you see snow-covered slopes and a frozen lake.
Most visitors spend about 30 minutes to an hour at Kerid Crater. If you're driving the Golden Circle, its other main sights are Thingvellir National Park, the Geysir Geothermal Area, and Gullfoss Waterfall.
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