Hellnar View Point
Hellnar View Point is a landscape in West Iceland, Iceland — about 196 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.
Access restriction
The shore at Hellnar is inside the Ströndin við Stapa og Hellna nature reserve, which runs from Brúnkolluholt west of Hellnar to Grísafossá east of Arnarstapi.
- a drone flight needs a permit from Náttúruverndarstofnun
- permits are issued only for commercial work — research, monitoring, construction, film, news and professional photography — and never for recreational or educational flying
- commercial permits may be granted year-round
- camping and overnight stays are prohibited inside the reserve — the Arnarstapi campsite is outside it
- dogs must be leashed and under control
- unnecessary noise near the bird cliffs is prohibited
- landing helicopters or other manned aircraft inside the reserve is prohibited
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Overview
An awesome viewpoint south of Snaefellsnes Peninsula.
As a photography stop, Hellnar View Point is a landscape in West Iceland, roughly 196 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 Hellnar View Point on the same offline layer as everything nearby.
Notes on this location
Compiled from published sources rather than a visit. Sources are listed below.
The western end of the old horse trail from Arnarstapi — about an hour on foot across the Hellnahraun lava and along the beach. The western coast of that lava field is a nature preserve.
- The path
- An old horse trail from Arnarstapi, now about a one-hour walk across lava and beach
- The lava
- Hellnahraun; its western coast is designated a nature preserve
- On the same coast
- Rauðfeldsgjá, Dritvík, Bjarnarfoss and Lóndrangar
Treating this as a viewpoint to drive to misses what the source actually describes, which is one end of a walk. Doing it as a there-and-back from Arnarstapi puts the arch, the rifts and the lava coast in a single two-hour round trip, and the light will have moved by the time you return — which is an argument for walking out early rather than arriving at the far end at midday.
SourcesArnarstapi — Wikipedia
Light & aurora at this spot
Calculated from this location’s coordinates (64.751, -23.647). Iceland stays on UTC year-round, so these are local times.
- Summer
- 21.6 h of daylight in June and the sun barely sets, dipping only 1.9° below the horizon — effectively continuous golden light through the small hours.
- Winter
- December: only 3.9 h of daylight (11:34–15:25), but the sun never climbs above 2° — the entire day is golden hour. Sunrise bears SSE, sunset SSW.
- Aurora
- Aurora-grade darkness Sep–Mar, peaking at 12.9 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
Hellnar View Point is a landscape in West Iceland, Iceland, approximately 196 km from Reykjavik. Exact GPS coordinates are included in the downloadable Landscape map.
The recommended season for Hellnar View Point 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 — Hellnar View Point can be visited year-round, though winter conditions may require a 4x4 or storm-tolerant plans.