Halldórsskora
Halldórsskora is a landscape in South Coast, Iceland — about 152 km from Reykjavik and reached by a ferry crossing followed by a short hike from the harbor. Halldórsskora is a notch in Hornbjarg, inside the Hornstrandir nature reserve. Shoot it in late June to August, the window the reserve is staffed and served by boat — outside it, trips have to be reported to Umhverfisstofnun in advance, then use the GPS coordinates, parking notes, and nearby waypoints below to fold this stop into a longer photography route.
Access restriction
Halldórsskora is a notch in Hornbjarg, inside the Hornstrandir nature reserve.
- drones need a permit from Umhverfisstofnun, and permits are not issued for recreational photography
- photography or filming that disturbs wildlife or other visitors needs a permit; film permits must be applied for by 30 May
- dogs and bicycles are prohibited inside the reserve
- camping is allowed only at defined sites, and only for one week at a time
- travel must be reported in advance from 1 March to 15 June and from 1 September to 1 November
- boats may not approach the seabird cliffs closer than 115 m
Best window: late June to August, the window the reserve is staffed and served by boat — outside it, trips have to be reported to Umhverfisstofnun in advance.
Overview
Halldórsskora. Elephant Rock. 'Elephant Rock' is a natural rock formation in Heimaey, part of the Westman Islands or Vestmannaeyjar. The islands are a visitor attraction in their own right, but Elephant Rock is the main draw.
Halldórsskora is one waypoint of many — you can load all 62 landscape viewpoints before you leave signal.
Notes on this location
Compiled from published sources rather than a visit. Sources are listed below.
The formation English-speakers call Elephant Rock, on the cliffs of Heimaey’s northwestern edge — columnar basalt shaped by surf into caves, read in profile as an elephant’s head and trunk.
- Name
- Halldórsskora; known in English as Elephant Rock
- Where
- The cliffs on the northwestern edge of Heimaey, in the Westman Islands
- Rock
- Basalt, with hexagonal columns formed by lava cooling and contracting slowly
- Shaping
- Erosion and weathering, with ocean surf carving caves and shapes into the rock face
- Folklore
- Said to be an enchanted elephant turned to stone, or to have been carved by hand
- A date not carried
- The source also attributes the formation to the 1973 Eldfell eruption while describing it as an eroded complex carved by surf. Those do not fit together, so this brief keeps the erosion and leaves the date out
- Not in the source
- No dimensions, and nothing about how it is reached or viewed
The elephant only resolves from one angle — it is a profile, not a shape — so this is a location where the viewpoint is the whole photograph. The catalog lists the way in as ferry and hike, which sets the day: Heimaey is a crossing, not a stop.
Light & aurora at this spot
Calculated from this location’s coordinates (63.444, -20.310). Iceland stays on UTC year-round, so these are local times.
- Summer
- June: sun up 03:06–23:37 (20.5 h). Evening golden hour 21:52–23:37, light coming from the NNW.
- Winter
- December: only 4.6 h of daylight (10:59–15:34), but the sun never climbs above 3.3° — the entire day is golden hour. Sunrise bears SSE, sunset SSW.
- Aurora
- Aurora-grade darkness Sep–Mar, peaking at 12.8 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
Halldórsskora is a landscape in South Coast, Iceland, approximately 152 km from Reykjavik. Exact GPS coordinates are included in the downloadable Landscape map.
Plan for late June to August, the window the reserve is staffed and served by boat — outside it, trips have to be reported to Umhverfisstofnun in advance. Halldórsskora is a notch in Hornbjarg, inside the Hornstrandir nature reserve (Auglýsing nr. 332/1985 um friðland á Hornströndum, with Umhverfisstofnun’s Sérstakar reglur um umferð og dvöl). For light, plan around blue hour and the first hour after sunrise.
Ferry/Hike access. The crossing decides the day: check the boat schedule and the forecast before committing, since a cancelled sailing cannot be worked around. Expect a walk from the landing, so bring weather-appropriate footwear. The downloadable GPS map puts the waypoint on your phone; your own app routes you to it from wherever you are.
Not without planning. Halldórsskora is a notch in Hornbjarg, inside the Hornstrandir nature reserve under Auglýsing nr. 332/1985 um friðland á Hornströndum, with Umhverfisstofnun’s Sérstakar reglur um umferð og dvöl, and drones need a permit from Umhverfisstofnun, and permits are not issued for recreational photography; photography or filming that disturbs wildlife or other visitors needs a permit; film permits must be applied for by 30 May; dogs and bicycles are prohibited inside the reserve; and 3 further restrictions listed on the page. Plan for late June to August, the window the reserve is staffed and served by boat — outside it, trips have to be reported to Umhverfisstofnun in advance.