A foreign traveler discovered the hard way that you need to do your research before driving off on an adventure road-trip in Iceland. Three weeks ago, the man was driving alone in the remote Westfjords, taking his rental vehicle, a 4×4 Skoda Octavia hatchback, down one of Iceland's most perilous roads, Kjaransvegur.
The most treacherous road in Iceland
Having rented a 4×4 the man probably assumed he could handle any Icelandic dirt road: But Kjaransvegur is no ordinary road: It is only suitable to large 4x4s during three months each year and is impassable most of the year. Parts of the road are nothing more than an unclear path through the rocky shore of Arnarfjörður fjord, bordered by sheer cliffs on one side and the North Atlantic on the other. Even modified mountain trucks cannot drive the road at high tide or if the wind blows from the ocean. Only experienced drivers with knowledge of conditions in the area should attempt to drive Kjaransvegur!
The unfortunate traveler therefore seems to have made almost every possible mistake.
Read more: Photos: Travellers in a compact car get stuck on mountain route 66 only suitable for trucks
The man was driving west from Stapadalur farm to Lokinhamrar valley when his car got stuck on the rocky trail in the surf at Skútubjörg cliffs. He was able to get call for help, but had to abandon the car on the shore as he made his way to safety. When members of the ICE-SAR Battalion Dýri from nearby Þingeyri village were able to check on the car 12 hours later the ocean had had its fun with the vehicle, thrashing it around.
These photos, taken by Halldór Gíslason, who was one of the ICE-SAR members to arrive at the scene, show that the vehicle was totally destroyed. The ocean had taken the car, knocking it around.
Middle-of-nowhere
This is a very remote area, at the edge of the world, so to speak. There are no inhabited farms for miles. With lack of lowland areas and and limited land suited to cultivation, the people who lived in these valleys relied on fishing to make a living. These marginal farms were then abandoned one by one in the 20th century, with the last inhabitant in the region leaving in 1999. The road The road, Kjaransbraut has an amazing story, it is extremely dangerous and only suited for specially equipped mountain trucks – and only during summer. During winter it becomes totally impassable.
If you want to get lost in the middle of nowhere in Iceland, with no chance of anyone finding you, this is probably the right place. It is possible to accidentally travel down Kjaransvegur to find yourself stuck in the surf beneath Skútabjörg cliffs. However, if you consult with any Icelandic map you will see that the road is clearly marked as not suitable for anything but especially equipped mountain trucks. Google maps is a whole different story…
Reminder: Don't trust google maps blindly!
Google Maps offers unsuspecting travelers no warnings what kind of road they are embarking on. The map legend for the road is the same as for other nearby gravel paths, falsely indicating it is a similar road. Google maps also identifies the road as being called Jeppaleidi which is probably a mangling of the Icelandic word Jeppaleið, which translates as Jeep-trail. However: A literal translation of the word Jeppaleiði is Jeep-grave. Which might actually be an appropriate name for the trail!
Read more: The best free online maps of Iceland
This is not the first or only example of serious errors in Google Maps, and a reminder you should never rely exclusively on Google Maps or other popular map applications. You should always double check an Icelandic map.
A foreign traveler discovered the hard way that you need to do your research before driving off on an adventure road-trip in Iceland. Three weeks ago, the man was driving alone in the remote Westfjords, taking his rental vehicle, a 4×4 Skoda Octavia hatchback, down one of Iceland's most perilous roads, Kjaransvegur.
The most treacherous road in Iceland
Having rented a 4×4 the man probably assumed he could handle any Icelandic dirt road: But Kjaransvegur is no ordinary road: It is only suitable to large 4x4s during three months each year and is impassable most of the year. Parts of the road are nothing more than an unclear path through the rocky shore of Arnarfjörður fjord, bordered by sheer cliffs on one side and the North Atlantic on the other. Even modified mountain trucks cannot drive the road at high tide or if the wind blows from the ocean. Only experienced drivers with knowledge of conditions in the area should attempt to drive Kjaransvegur!
The unfortunate traveler therefore seems to have made almost every possible mistake.
Read more: Photos: Travellers in a compact car get stuck on mountain route 66 only suitable for trucks
The man was driving west from Stapadalur farm to Lokinhamrar valley when his car got stuck on the rocky trail in the surf at Skútubjörg cliffs. He was able to get call for help, but had to abandon the car on the shore as he made his way to safety. When members of the ICE-SAR Battalion Dýri from nearby Þingeyri village were able to check on the car 12 hours later the ocean had had its fun with the vehicle, thrashing it around.
These photos, taken by Halldór Gíslason, who was one of the ICE-SAR members to arrive at the scene, show that the vehicle was totally destroyed. The ocean had taken the car, knocking it around.
Middle-of-nowhere
This is a very remote area, at the edge of the world, so to speak. There are no inhabited farms for miles. With lack of lowland areas and and limited land suited to cultivation, the people who lived in these valleys relied on fishing to make a living. These marginal farms were then abandoned one by one in the 20th century, with the last inhabitant in the region leaving in 1999. The road The road, Kjaransbraut has an amazing story, it is extremely dangerous and only suited for specially equipped mountain trucks – and only during summer. During winter it becomes totally impassable.
If you want to get lost in the middle of nowhere in Iceland, with no chance of anyone finding you, this is probably the right place. It is possible to accidentally travel down Kjaransvegur to find yourself stuck in the surf beneath Skútabjörg cliffs. However, if you consult with any Icelandic map you will see that the road is clearly marked as not suitable for anything but especially equipped mountain trucks. Google maps is a whole different story…
Reminder: Don't trust google maps blindly!
Google Maps offers unsuspecting travelers no warnings what kind of road they are embarking on. The map legend for the road is the same as for other nearby gravel paths, falsely indicating it is a similar road. Google maps also identifies the road as being called Jeppaleidi which is probably a mangling of the Icelandic word Jeppaleið, which translates as Jeep-trail. However: A literal translation of the word Jeppaleiði is Jeep-grave. Which might actually be an appropriate name for the trail!
Read more: The best free online maps of Iceland
This is not the first or only example of serious errors in Google Maps, and a reminder you should never rely exclusively on Google Maps or other popular map applications. You should always double check an Icelandic map.
