Description of the Tour

This is a 2-3 hour walk on the mountain Ingólfsfjall, only 5 minutes from Selfoss.  The hiking trail is easy to walk and the view can be spectacular with a view to the coastline, the mountains and the Floi parish.

Mt Ingolfsfjall (551m) is a steep sloped hyaloclastite mountain with strata of lava and mostly precipitous upper part.  During the latest part of the Ice Age, it was a headland, when the sea level stood much higher.  It is connected to the mountainous area of the Grafningur County by the mountain ridge Grafningshals.  It was created during the middle of the Ice Age.  Just north of the highway the low shoulder Silfurberg extends from the mountain.  It is coloured by scolesite crystals and opposite, just south of the road, is the cone shaped hill Kogunarholl.

The mountain was named after the first Norwegian settler of the country, Ingolfur Arnarson, and he is said to be buried in the diorite mound Ingholl on the top of the mountain. Legend has it, that it opens up once at night during summer, and then the treasure, buried with him, becomes accessible. The Book of Settlements also tells us about his third winter lodgings at the southern foot of the mountain.  Later, the farm Fjallstun was built there.  It was abandoned in the 18. century.  The ruins of the farm were declared inviolate.