Kjalvegur (, ) is a highland

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

, crossing

Kjölur Kjölur () is a plateau in the highlands of Iceland, roughly defined as the area between the Langjökull and Hofsjökull glaciers. It lies at an elevation of about 600–700 metres. Geography At the northern end of the Kjölur road, near the h ...

from north to south.

History

Formerly, the name referred to a horse-track closer to

Langjökull Langjökull (, Icelandic for "long glacier") is the second largest ice cap in Iceland (), after Vatnajökull. It is situated in the west of the Icelandic interior or Highlands of Iceland and can be seen clearly from Haukadalur. It covers the ...

, west of the current road. This track now goes by the name ''Kjalvegur hinn forni'' (Ancient Kjalvegur), and is closed to motorized traffic.

Geography

The road begins in the south of

near Haukadalur and behind the

Gullfoss Gullfoss ("Golden Falls"; ) is a waterfall located in the canyon of the Hvítá, Árnessýsla, Hvítá river in southwest Iceland. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country, and is included in "Golden Circle (Iceland), Gol ...

waterfall, ending in the north near ''Blönduós''. The road traverses the interior between two

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

and

Hofsjökull __NOTOC__ Hofsjökull (Icelandic language, Icelandic: "temple glacier", ) is the third largest ice cap in Iceland after Vatnajökull and Langjökull and covers the largest active central volcano in the country, which has the same name. It is si ...

. It is the second longest of the roads through the

Highlands of Iceland The Highland (Icelandic language, Icelandic: ''Hálendið)'' or The Central Highland is an area that comprises much of the interior land of Iceland. The Highland is situated above and is mostly uninhabitable. The soil is primarily volcanic as ...

. It takes about 5 hours to traverse by

car A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

, the road is generally rough, but river crossings are bridged.

History

Geography

See also