One of the reasons we wanted to visit Iceland this year was to see the lava flows at the Fagradalsfjall volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula. No eruption has occurred on the peninsula in 800 years, until a fissure vent opened here in March 2021. The eruption is effusive (not explosive!), and has been continuously spewing lava and changing the landscape since March.

We woke up in Grindavik and drove to a small dirt parking lot, before setting out as a family on a fairly challenging 3.5 mile hike (each way) over the volcanic rocks, gaining a fair amount of elevation along the way, with the fresh lava fields below us.

Over the last 5 months these fields have steadily increased in size and extent. 

As we approached closer to the lava vent, we could feel the residual heat from the more recent lava, and see the bright orange lava spewing from the peak. 5 months ago visitors could get pretty near the lava vent--now, there is so much lava build up around it that it is difficult to get near.

However, a drone helps, and aerial photography of a volcano can be quite stunning.

Fagradalsfjall Volcano

When the kids had gotten their fill of lava flowing, we hiked back to the car. We decided that we would take a different path the way down and found ourselves sliding down the loose volcanic rocks on the side of the mountain. Note there are often no definite "trails" as this place was not visited 6 months ago.

We were so impressed that we vowed to come back later in the evening to see the lava glowing in the night. The kids were not up for another grueling hike so Lindsay and I went ourselves, leaving them at the cottage. We set out on our hike at about 8pm, arriving at the volcano at about 9:30.

Over the next several hours we explored the area, mesmerized by the glowing lava in the growing darkness. It was cold and windy, but the closer you got to the lava, the more it felt like a space heater blowing towards you. 

It was fun to fly the drone up closer to the spewing lava vent, and get some dramatic shots of the flowing lava.
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Fagradalsfjall Volcano

We hiked back in the dark, through fog and clouds over rough terrain. Luckily we knew our way from earlier in the day, and there were several other hikers with the same idea. In fact, we saw many passing in the opposite direction towards the volcano after midnight.