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Iceland is home to over 200 glaciers in different shapes and sizes. Most are outlet glaciers that are connected to the bigger ice caps, but then there are glaciers like the tiny Drangajökull. This mighty dwarf is remarkable in many ways and the perfect glacier to visit if you’re looking for a true Icelandic adventure.
Drangajökull in Short
If you look at Icelandic culture and what the people are most proud of, resilience and hardiness are two aspects that immediately stick out. After all, these people are brought up on an incredibly remote island that seems to do everything in its power to test the resilience of the people living on it.
With everything from the harsh everyday weather to the continuous volcanic eruptions, living here is not for the faint of heart. The Land of Fire and Ice has one particular glacier that embodies these characteristics to the tee: Drangajökull.
Drangajökull is one of the smallest glaciers in Iceland with an ice cap of only 200 square kilometers. To compare, the behemoth glacier, Vatnajökull, covers a stunning 8,100 square kilometers.
On top of its impressively small cover, Drangajökull is the only glacier in Iceland that sits completely under 1,000 meters in altitude, it’s the only glacier in the Westfjords, and it’s the only glacier in Iceland to not shrink in many years. Drangajökull Glacier is simply the embodiment of beating the odds and surviving against all odds.
Where is Drangajökull?
In the deep wilds of the Westfjords, you’ll find Drangajökull sitting just south of the Horsntrandir Nature Reserve. It’s the northernmost glacier in the country and is surrounded by completely uninhabited land.
How to Get to Drangajökull
This is the tricky part of the Drangajökull glacier. Hornstrandir Nature Reserve is notorious for being hard to reach, and it’s partly because of how Drangajökull blocks it off. You can still reach the glacier in one of two ways: a guided tour from the nearby settlements, or a self-drive and a long hike.
Self-driving
The easiest way to get to Drangajökull yourself is to drive Road 61 from Hólmavik going north until you can take the gravel road 635 that follows the northern side of the Isafjardardjúp. This is a 40-kilometer-long road, single trip, that will eventually take you to the starting point for the Drangajökull hike.
Since this is a gravel road in the Icelandic wilderness, it’s strongly suggested that you take it easy along this road and enjoy the views. Road 635 is narrow and not always in the best of conditions, so taking it slow is important.
Guided Tour
For a tour to Drangajökull, you will have to meet up with tour guides in the capital of the Westfjords: Isafjördur. From here, you will be able to catch day tours where the guide takes you across the fjord on a boat to explore Drangajökull and the surrounding area for a day. You can also opt for several days of camping in nature and an additional day or two in the Hornstrandir Nature Reserve.
If you are looking for a really personal experience, contact one of the many tour operators in the area to get a private tour of the area. The locals know all the ins and outs of Drangajökull Glacier and will gladly show you the best spots on the mountain.
Historical and Cultural Significance
The name “Drangajökull” is two words put together: “Dranga” and “jökull”. Dranga is what the Icelanders call a pillar of rocks, or rock column, which can often be seen along the coasts of Iceland. Jökull is the Icelandic word for glacier, ice field, or mountain, depending on the context.
The area around Drangajökull is for the most part completely uninhabited. There are some small fishing villages along the coast like Djúpavik, and the most remote location is the abandoned herring processing factory at Ingólffjörður.
There have been many attempts to establish herring processing factories in the area, and Djúpavik is the most known one after the hotel opened at the foot of the mountains southeast of Drangajökull. On the western side of Drangajökull, the glacier outlet Kaldalón was home to one of the most beloved composers in Icelandic history.
Sigvaldi Stefánsson (later renamed Sigvaldi Kaldalons) was a medical doctor in Iceland in the early 1900s and became so struck with the beauty around Kaldalón that he decided to move there permanently. He lived out his days here while composing several musical pieces, and there is even a carving in the memorial basalt rock of him playing the grand piano at the mouth of the outlet.
Drangajökull Flora and Fauna
Just like with the Hornstrandir Nature Reserve, the area around Drangajökull is full of life and has a wide variety of animals and Icelandic plants. Overall, the Westfjords is one of the most untouched regions in Iceland. Since it is hard to reach and far away from major towns and cities, you won’t run into many other visitors here either.
Flora
Since Drangajökull is completely covered in ice, nothing grows there. The area around, however, is rich in the classic Icelandic flora found in the Highlands. There is plenty of hardy moss that can endure the harsh conditions, and the further down the mountain you get, you will see more grass, flowers, some bushes, and even the occasional tree. Most prominent in lush flora is the northern part of Drangajökull where there are large areas of flatter lands at a low altitude.
Fauna
The Westfjords is a hot spot for bird watchers and has long been a popular nesting region for many bird species. Even though you won’t get the same number of birds as the Latrabjarg Cliffs in the western part of the Westfjords, Drangajökull is an excellent area to spot many Puffins as they come for the summer. If you stick close to the coast in the summer in Iceland, you are sure to spot many nests that no other visitor will have the pleasure of finding.
Apart from the famous clown bird of the north, you can spot other sea birds like Arctic terns and Black Guillemots. If you’re really lucky, you might be able to spot the White-Tailed Eagle perching on the cliffs or circling above the water, looking for some tasty fish.
Since Drangajökull is right next to Isafjardardjup, there’s also a chance of seeing whales from the shore. To do this, patience is key, and the summer is the best time of year to do so.
Drangajökull is not known for its rich fauna on land, but there have been sights of the elusive Arctic Fox in the area, so keep your binoculars handy. The fox is more prominent in the Hornstrandir Nature Reserve, but that is likely because the reserve is more visited than Drangajökull.
The Best Time to Visit Drangajökull
You can visit Drangajökull any time of the year, so it’s really up to how you prefer your holiday. There are some factors to consider when making that decision:
Roads
Drangajökull is far out in the wilderness, and the roads there are all but comfortable to drive on. In the summer, the narrow gravel roads are likely to be the easiest to drive on if the weather holds up. In case of sudden extreme weather, chances are that the road to Drangajökull might be closed.
The winter in Iceland is a notoriously tricky time to maneuver the roads. Even the paved roads are sometimes a bit hard to drive on, so just imagine how it looks like when you try to reach the foot of a mountain, along the coast, on a narrow gravel road with +30 kilometer per second winds, and more snow than Santa could wish for. On the other hand, if you choose to go on guided tours, winter might not be so bad since the guides know how to deal with it.
Nature
The summer in Iceland is the best time of year to view most of nature, and Drangajökull is no exception. This is the time of year when you’ll be able to see Iceland come to life and spot the widest range of animals and plants. The weather will be milder and hiking trails easier to walk.
If you’re looking for tranquility, winter might be more your jam. As the snow sets on the ground, it creates an almost sound-absorbing layer, making wind-still days nothing short of therapeutic if you value silence.
Crowds
If you don’t like sharing your space with others, summer might not be the best time to visit for you. Even something as remote as Drangajökull will have more visitors in the summertime. This does, however, also mean that there will be more opportunities to take a tour to your destinations.
The winter provides solitude for the traveler in the wilderness. The options for accommodation and guided tours will be more limited, but Drangajökull is almost completely empty of visitors this time of year.
Costs
As summer is the peak visiting time in Iceland, prices increase, along with demand, which means that you will have to open the wallet wide for certain activities. This makes summer a bad time to visit Iceland if you’re traveling on a budget. Luckily, Drangajökull is free to visit if you do a self-drive.
Night Lights
One of the best things about Iceland is that both summer and winter have their own night lights. If you come to visit Drangajökull in the summer, you can get the experience of exploring the area under the Midnight Sun. Since Drangajökull is so far north, the sun will literally not set for the entire month of June.
In the winter, you will get the other side of the coin, with sunlight being limited to less than 3 hours a day for the middle of December, and no more than 6 hours between mid-November and the end of January. What you might have to keep you company, though, is the Northern Lights in Iceland. Since Drangajökull is far from any light pollution, you will have a good chance of spotting the Northern Lights on a cold winter’s night.
What to Think of When Hiking at Drangajökull
It’s important to remember that this is one of the most remote regions in Iceland and Drangajökull is one of the most remote places in the remote region. Hiking here means being very well-prepared and packing the right things:
- Waterproof clothes, from top to bottom, are essential.
- Plan your trip and make sure you have enough battery on your phone to call for help if necessary.
- Pack more food than you need, just in case!
- Stay on the designated trails in the area. Even if anything happens, you are more likely to be found and get help if you’re on a known trail.
Where to Stay Around Drangajökull
Drangajökull is far from any city center, so you won’t find any hotels or guest houses in the vicinity. Camping grounds, on the other hand, are closer than you might think:
- Flæðareyri Campsite: on the northern side of Drangajökull with absolutely no amenities at all. There is no camping fee either, and most people don’t know it exists.
- Urðartindur Travel Service: to the southeast of Drangarjökull lies a family-run campsite that offers cooking facilities, cottage rental, toilets, and even a swimming pool!
- Hornstrandir Camping: Complete with electric- and gas stoves as well as coin-operated showers, toilets, a lighthouse to sleep in, a drying room for wet clothes, and coal grills for those who can bring coals.
The closest hotels and guesthouses can be found in the nearby towns and villages:
- Hotel Djúpavik: a budget-friendly stay to the southeast of Drangajökull.
- Hotel Reykjanes: hotel, apartments, hostel, and camping – all in one.
- Hotel Horn: the pricy option if you have money to spend.
Drangajökull: Ice Cold Resilience
There are few places in Iceland that offer the same experience as Drangajökull in the Westfjords. Visiting this glacier will be the most remote experience you can have, and the calm and quiet surroundings will put you as close to nature as you can come.
Drangajökull is not a quick stop by the road or a couple of hours of tranquil rest. If you visit here, you must be properly prepared. Start by renting a car in Reykjavik so you can make the most out of your trip and visit the small and resilient glacier for as long as you want.
