Epic Travel → Europe → Iceland → Southern Iceland → Sólheimasandur Plane Crash

Location: Skógar/Vík area, Southern Iceland

Time Required: 2.5 – 3 hours (8km round trip to get to and from the site and however much time you want to spend at the sight)

Red Tape/Notes: None.

What’s Nearby?: Seljavallalaug, Rútshellir, Skógafoss, Kvernufoss, Dyrhólaey, Reynisfjara, Fjaðrárgljúfur

A US Navy DC plane ran out of fuel and crashed on the black sand beach at Solheimasandur in 1973 and no one ever bothered clearing away the wreckage after the US military salvaged what it wanted. Bonus for us. And don’t worry, everyone survived. You used to be able to drive out to the crash site if you had a 4 wheel drive, but driving is no longer allowed (ignore any only old posts that discuss driving to the site), and you’ll have to park your car at the not terribly well signed parking area (you’ll notice it though, because all of a sudden there’s a parking area on both sides of the road and heaps of cars parked in it), and walk the 4 km to the site. I swear it’s the longest 4km in the world, because there’s nothing else to look at. It’s like hiking across a desolate, barren landscape of nothing, and you keep expecting to the crash site in the distance and it takes forever to appear. But it’s totally worth it when you get there.

Epic Travel → Europe → Iceland → Southern Iceland → Sólheimasandur Plane Crash