Gerðuberg Cliffs
Gerðuberg Cliffs is a landscape in West Iceland, Iceland — about 121 km from Reykjavik and reached by a drive to the trailhead and a short walk in (footwear and weather check). Shoot it year-round, though winter wind, ice, and short daylight rework the shot list, then use the GPS coordinates, parking notes, and nearby waypoints below to fold this stop into a longer photography route.
Overview
Gerðuberg is a cliff of dolerite, a coarse-grained basalt rock, located on western peninsula Snæfellsnes.
As a photography stop, Gerðuberg Cliffs is a landscape in West Iceland, roughly 121 km from Reykjavik, reached by a drive to the trailhead and a short walk in (footwear and weather check). Plan the shoot year-round, though winter wind, ice, and short daylight rework the shot list. The downloadable Landscape map pins exact GPS coordinates, parking, and nearby waypoints so you can fold it into a wider route instead of hunting for the pull-off on arrival.
Planning more than one stop? Open the landscape GPS map for Iceland to put Gerðuberg Cliffs on the same offline layer as everything nearby.
Notes on this location
Compiled from published sources rather than a visit. Sources are listed below.
A wall of unusually regular basalt columns on Snæfellsnes, each 1–1.5 m wide and 7–14 m tall. The rock is dolerite — basaltic lava cooled by the sea, which is what let the columns form so evenly.
- Columns
- 1–1.5 m wide, 7–14 m high
- Rock
- Dolerite, a coarse-grained basalt
- How they formed
- Flowing basaltic lava cooled by the sea, solidifying in very evenly running columns
- Where
- Western Snæfellsnes, on the western edge of Hnappadalur — about 46 km north of Borgarnes and 115 km from Reykjavík
Columns this regular make the subject repetition rather than shape, so the frame lives or dies on where it cuts — a wall of identical verticals needs an edge, a break or a figure for scale, or it reads as texture. At 7–14 m they are also tall enough that a wide lens close in will keystone badly; stepping back costs less than correcting it later.
SourcesGerðuberg — Wikipedia
Light & aurora at this spot
Calculated from this location’s coordinates (64.861, -22.359). Iceland stays on UTC year-round, so these are local times.
- Summer
- 21.7 h of daylight in June and the sun barely sets, dipping only 1.8° below the horizon — effectively continuous golden light through the small hours.
- Winter
- December: only 3.8 h of daylight (11:31–15:18), but the sun never climbs above 1.9° — the entire day is golden hour. Sunrise bears SSE, sunset SSW.
- Aurora
- Aurora-grade darkness Sep–Mar, peaking at 13 h a night in December. Not possible Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug — the sky never gets dark enough.
Bar height is daylight hours. Months marked • have enough astronomical darkness for aurora; the rest do not.
Questions & answers
Gerðuberg Cliffs is a landscape in West Iceland, Iceland, approximately 121 km from Reykjavik. Exact GPS coordinates are included in the downloadable Landscape map.
The recommended season for Gerðuberg Cliffs is All. For light, plan around blue hour and the first hour after sunrise; Iceland's long shoulder-season twilight extends usable conditions on either side.
Drive/Hike access. Bring weather-appropriate footwear and check conditions before setting out. The downloadable GPS map puts the waypoint on your phone; your own app routes you to it from wherever you are.
Yes — Gerðuberg Cliffs can be visited year-round, though winter conditions may require a 4x4 or storm-tolerant plans.