Stampar Crater Row

Stampar is not one crater but a row of them strung along a fissure that runs north-east from the coast, which is what eruptions on the Reykjanes ridge look like: the ground opens along a line and builds a chain of cones rather than a single cone. The younger row here dates from the Reykjanes Fires of the early thirteenth century, and an older row alongside it is roughly two thousand years old, so the two generations can be compared side by side. The lava between and around them is rough aa, awkward to cross away from the path. A marked trail links the craters with the coast at Reykjanesta.

What you actually see

• Craters in a line, not a cone - the fissure eruption pattern of the ridge.
• Two generations side by side - a thirteenth century row and one about two thousand years old.
• Rough aa lava - sharp and slow to cross off the path.
• A marked trail to the coast - linking the row with Reykjanesta.

When to go

May to October. One to two hours.

Honest expectations

To an untrained eye these read as low mounds of black rubble - the interest is in the pattern rather than the scale. The lava cuts boots and hands if you leave the path. Wind is constant. No facilities beyond the car park.

Nearby

Valahnukamol and Gunnuhver are minutes away at the peninsula's tip.