Hvitserkur
Hvitserkur is a landscape in North Iceland, Iceland — about 229 km from Reykjavik and reached by a straightforward drive from the nearest highway turnoff. Shoot it during the summer window, when light, road status, and crowd levels line up for photography, then use the GPS coordinates, parking notes, and nearby waypoints below to fold this stop into a longer photography route.
Overview
Hvítserkur is a 15 meter high basalt stack along the eastern shore of the Vatnsnes peninsula.
As a photography stop, Hvitserkur is a landscape in North Iceland, roughly 229 km from Reykjavik, reached by a straightforward drive from the nearest highway turnoff. Plan the shoot during the summer window, when light, road status, and crowd levels line up for photography. 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 Iceland landscape photo map to put Hvitserkur 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 15 m basalt sea stack off the eastern shore of the Vatnsnes peninsula, with two holes at its base. The rock is welded tuff from a pyroclastic flow around 13–12 million years ago; the base has been reinforced with concrete against sea erosion.
- Height
- 15 m
- Rock
- Ignimbrite (welded tuff) from a pyroclastic flow, early Miocene, about 13–12 million years ago
- Base
- Two holes at the base; the foundations are reinforced with concrete
- Where
- Eastern shore of the Vatnsnes peninsula, northwest Iceland
- Wildlife
- Bird nesting sites and seal haul-outs on adjacent gravel banks, damaged by trampling
The two holes only read as holes from angles that place open water or sky behind them — from many positions on the beach the stack collapses into a solid silhouette, which is why the same rock looks so different between photographs. The seal haul-outs and nesting sites on the neighbouring banks are also the reason to stay on firm ground rather than working closer along the shore.
SourcesHvítserkur — Wikipedia
Light & aurora at this spot
Calculated from this location’s coordinates (65.606, -20.635). Iceland stays on UTC year-round, so these are local times.
- Summer
- 22.9 h of daylight in June and the sun barely sets, dipping only 1.1° below the horizon — effectively continuous golden light through the small hours.
- Winter
- December: only 3.3 h of daylight (11:40–14:55), but the sun never climbs above 1.1° — 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
Hvitserkur is a landscape in North Iceland, Iceland, approximately 229 km from Reykjavik. Exact GPS coordinates are included in the downloadable Landscape map.
The recommended season for Hvitserkur is Summer. 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 access. A standard rental car works in most seasons; check road status in winter before committing. The downloadable GPS map puts the waypoint on your phone; your own app routes you to it from wherever you are.
Hvitserkur is best visited during Summer. Outside that window, expect limited access, weather closures, or significantly different photographic conditions.