Snæfellsjökull is the mountain everyone in western Iceland points at. Its white, cone-shaped cap, 1446 metres high, rises above the end of the Snæfellsnes peninsula and can be seen from Reykjavík on a clear day, across the wide bay of Faxaflói. Up close, on its southern flank, the glacier dominates the sky, and the land around it is a rough sea of old lava flows, covered in grey-green moss, with craters, caves and the occasional farm in the hollows. The mountain is a volcano, dormant rather than dead, and the lava around it came from its eruptions over thousands of years.
The glacier has a special place in literature. Jules Verne chose it as the entrance to the underworld in Journey to the Centre of the Earth, published in 1864, in which his heroes climb into the crater and descend through the earth. The mountain is also considered by some to be a place of mystical energy, and it attracts its share of spiritual visitors. The area around it, from the summit to the sea, is protected as Snæfellsjökull National Park.
Below the glacier there are several places to stop. The Vatnshellir lava cave, a tube formed by flowing lava, can be visited on guided tours. On the coast, the sea stacks of Lóndrangar rise from the shore like ruined towers, and further west the beach of Djúpalónssandur has black pebbles, the rusting remains of a trawler wreck and the old lifting stones that fishermen once used to test their strength.
The roads here are mostly paved, with some gravel on the side roads, and the mountain road over the glacier's shoulder, Route 570, is rough gravel and open only in summer. Traffic is moderate, and the wind can be very strong and gusty, especially on the exposed lava fields. Weather changes rapidly, and the glacier is often hidden in cloud. On a clear evening, when the sun lights the ice, the view is unforgettable.
There are no services here except in the small villages. Ólafsvík, on the north coast, has fuel, shops and a cafe, and Hellissandur and Rif are close by. Take warm clothes and plan your fuel carefully, because distances between services are long.