Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River: An Unforgettable Family Experience

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Are you up for a moderate hike to experience soaking in a naturally hot river in Iceland? If so, you do not want to miss the popular Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River.

When we visited Iceland for a week as a family, the swimming pool workers were on strike, so our swimming options were limited because we were not staying at a hotel with a pool.

We don’t like crowds of people and try to travel on a budget, so we usually avoid the main tourist sites such as the Blue Lagoon. Our kids LOVE to swim when we travel, and we weren’t about to pay a bunch of money to take them swimming.

Our Airbnb host recommended visiting Reykjadalur Thermal River and it was…quite the adventure! It ended up being our kids’ favorite part of our trip, which really surprised me because it did NOT go anything like I had envisioned.

Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about visiting Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River with kids.

Dallas, Little Miss, and Little Man in their swimsuits floating in Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River. There is steam coming off the river. The river is flanked by wooden boardwalks on both sides. At the bottom of the picture are wooden stairs going down into the river. — *Dallas and the kids enjoying the warm water from the hot springs.*

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Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River Hike Overview

Length: about 4 miles/6.5 km round-trip
Elevation change: 1100 ft/335 km
Difficulty: Moderate
Time: 2.5-3 hours
Insider tip: This hike is steadily uphill for the first mile/1.6 km and then it switches to smaller ups and downs until you reach the Reykjadalur Hot Springs

On the left side of the picture is a hill covered in green grass. In the middle of the grass is a small stream cascading down a hill. On the right side of the picture is a steep dirt trail with Dallas and Little Miss small specs at the top. — *Dallas and Little Miss hiking up the trail.*

Travel Resources

Here are some resources to help you plan your time in Iceland.
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Activities
– Árbær Open Air Museum: Explore the traditional buildings of Iceland
–Reykjavík City Card: Get discounts on museums and other activities

Car Rental
– I recommend renting a car to get around Iceland. It was easy to navigate and we enjoyed having the freedom to explore when we wanted to. I always book through Expedia because they are easy to work with if plans change.

Reykjadalur Thermal River

Reykjadalur Thermal River is located 31 miles/50 km southeast of Reykjavik near the city of Hveragerði, just a 45-minute drive.

Iceland is referred to as the Land of Fire and Ice because of all of the geothermal activity and the glaciers to explore. Reykjadalur is just one of the many places you can experience water heated from within the earth.

Reykjadalur means “steam valley”. You will see what a fitting name that is when you arrive! There is so much geothermal activity happening in this area all along the trail, which makes the hike interesting for the whole family.

The river is a natural hot spring in Iceland and has several locations where warm water enters the stream. This makes it so there are varying temperatures in the water, which is great for families.

Wooden plank bridge going across a river. There is steam rising from the water that quickly blends in to the heavy fog. There are 6 people relaxing in the water and two people crouching down to feel the water. — *The steam from the river quickly merged with the heavy fog when we visited.*

Getting to Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River

The parking lot for the Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River is about 30 miles (48 km) from Reykjavik. Take the Ring Road (Route 1) southeast from Reykjavik. At the roundabout in Hveragerði, turn onto Breiðamörk.

**Insider Tip: Remember when driving in Iceland, that the inside lane of a roundabout has the right of way.

Follow Breiðamörk through town and as it makes a turn to the left all the way to the parking lot for the hike.

When entering it into your map to find it, it is easiest to type “Reykjadalur Cafe” and it will direct you right to the parking lot.

Our family chose to have this be our only activity for the day, but it is technically on the way to the Westman Islands (only stop if you are going to spend the night on the Westman Islands…you will want a whole day to explore the islands!) or down to see one of the many waterfalls along the southern coast.

Cost of Visiting Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River

The cost of hiking Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River is free, but you do have to pay for parking. The cost of parking is per hour and is determined by the cameras in the parking lot.

It cost us 950 ISK/$6.78 for parking while we hiked. Paying for the parking also gave us access to the bathrooms that were attached to the Cafe.

Parking for Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River

The parking lot is large and paved. It is shared with the Reykjadalur Café, which is a perfect place to visit before or after your adventure to soak in the river. You will need to pay for parking. The machine is located on the front wall of the cafe so you can still pay, even if the cafe is not open.

This is a popular hike, but the parking lot is large and you can usually find parking.

The parking lot was the perfect place for us to put on all of our warm gear for the hike up and take off all of our wet things when we got back. Even though it was raining and everything was wet, the parking lot was not muddy at all, which was helpful in keeping things clean.

Accessibility

The Reykjadalur Café and bathroom are accessible and easy for wheels to navigate. The hike to the river is not wheel-friendly. If taking small children, they will need to walk or you will need to carry them.

Dallas, Little Man, and Little Miss in their rain gear walking on a rocky dirt path. In front of them you can see the path crossing a small stream full of rocks. All around them the mountain slopes up covered in pale green/yellow moss. — *Hiking up the trail through the Reykjadalur Valley.*

Facilities at Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River

There are bathrooms attached to the west side of the Reykjadalur Café in the parking lot for the hike. You get access to these bathrooms when you pay for parking there. The bathrooms are located on the side wall, so they remain open even when the cafe is closed.

There are not any bathroom facilities up at the Reykjadalur River, so make sure to use the restroom before heading out on the hike. There are benches and a few wooden partitions at the top, but they are not enclosed. If you don’t want to get naked in front of everyone, make sure to have your swimsuit on before you get there.

Best Time to Visit Reykjadalur Hot Spring

The best time to visit Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River is in the summer. I recommend going on a nice day with no chance of rain because it is MISERABLE to do that hike in the rain, trust me!

The river is warm year-round because of the hot springs, which means you can visit year-round, but hiking in freezing weather with wet hair is not fun at all. Trust me.

In the spring the trail can be muddy with all of the snow melting and with any rain. In the winter the trail can be slippery from the ice and snow, so you would need microspikes.

Little Man and Little Miss in the reykjadalur River trying to lay down and get all the way covered with the water. On the right is a wooden boardwalk with 3 wooden stairs leading down into the water.

Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River Hike

The hike to Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River, also called the Reykjadalur Thermal Bathing Pools, is about 4 miles/6.5 km long round-trip. The trail is well-maintained and easy to follow in the summer. It is popular enough that it is also easy to find the trail in the winter as well.

We spent 3 hours on our adventure exploring the Reykjadalur Hot Springs. It took us 1 hour and 10 minutes to get up to the river and 50 minutes to get back down. The kids would have stayed longer and played in the water, but it was raining pretty hard with no sign of it letting up, so we decided to head out.

The hike starts to the right of the cafe down a set of wooden stairs. Then it is nice and flat to lull you into a false sense of ease. Here you cross a little bridge and look up the mountain and see the people hiking down and think to yourself, “This isn’t going to be too bad”….which is true…as long as it doesn’t start to rain.

The trail then starts its climb up the mountain. I would call it more of a hill because we are from Utah and are used to hiking in the Rocky Mountains, but it is a steady climb for the first mile (1.6 km).

We played leap frog with a few other groups hiking as we all took turns to stop and catch our breath. The weather had said 20% chance of rain and it was a windy day, so we put on all of our rain gear and our heavy coats to stay warm after getting out of the water.

The problem was that we put all of our layers on at the beginning and then we got all sweaty…then we were cold. Make sure to take layers, but make sure to take those layers off as you get hot.

At this point in our hike, the sky was cloudy and the wind was picking up. The wind felt good because we were hot, but we should have read the warning signs of the wind getting stronger. We did not and blissfully continued on our way to the hot springs.

Dallas and Little Miss and Little Man walking on a wide gravel path headed toward a wooden bridge. In the distance you can see a mountain that has steam columns rising up from the side of the trail. — *The easy start to the hike. You can see the steam from the mud pots in the distance.*

Mud Pots

As you make your way up the climb at the beginning of the hike, you will come across a few boiling mud pots. These are too hot to swim in, but they are interesting to watch. Our kids loved it and it reminded them of our trip to Yellowstone National Park.

Make sure to stay on the designated path. The crust is thin and you don’t want to accidentally fall through and get burned. The moss and vegetation surrounding the path is also fragile and you don’t want to damage it.

Little Miss looking into a circular hole full of boiling mud. The mud is a dark grey, contrasting with the light brown dirt that surrounds it. Steam is rising from the boiling mud. — *Little Miss enjoying watching the boiling mud.*

Djúpagilsfoss Waterfall

Once you get past the initial climb, the trail kind of levels out with smaller ups and downs. At the top of one of the crests about 1.4 miles/2.3 km in to the hike, you can see the beautiful Waterfall.

At this point, the fog started settling on the top of the mountains around us, but we were able to see the waterfall across the valley.

Multi-level Djúpagilsfoss waterfall flowing down acros the valley from the view point. Above the waterfall is light yellow/green moss. The waterfall flows down the brown dirt from the mountain. — *View of the beautiful Djúpagilsfoss. You can see the fog starting to come in on the distant* *mountains.*

On our way back to the car, we were not able to see the waterfall at all. The whole valley was filled with fog. These two pictures are taken from the same spot…its a good thing that the trail was easy to follow or we could have gotten very lost in the fog.

Dark rocks and dirt in the foreground. Everything else in the picture is obscured by thick fog. — Our view of *Djúpagilsfoss* *on our way back down. There was so much fog.*

Hike to the River

The rest of the hike to the river has wooden bridges, rock bridges, and rubber mats. The rubber mats help keep the trail from being damaged and offer traction when the path is slippery or wet.

At this point in the hike, it was starting to sprinkle on us. That didn’t stop the kids from testing the river temperature any time the trail got close enough that they could reach it. The second the water was kind of warm, the kids were ready to hop in.

Little Miss and Little Man in their rain gear squatting down to feel the temperature for the river. The water in the river is clear and is making little waterfalls and is flows over rocks on its way through the green grass. — *Little Miss and Little Man testing out the temperature of the water. This is why it took us over an hour to hike up. We had to frequently stop and feel the water.*

Boardwalk at Reykjadular Hot Springs

Are you wondering where to put your stuff while soaking in Reykjadalur Hot Spring? Once it is safe to enter the river, there is a boardwalk that runs alongside the water. Periodically along the boardwalk are wooden partitions that form four areas. They are not enclosed and only offer a little bit of privacy.

In each little square is a wooden bench. These benches do not offer any protection from the rain for your belongings…trust me…I know. We tried using our coats to cover our dry clothes and towels, but that did not work well. Everything was fairly soaked by the end.

We walked past a group of adults on our way to find a spot to put our things down. They commented that they were impressed that our kids made it up. I said “The reward of the river kept them going. I’m worried about our hike back down because we accidentally left our snacks in the car.” Those kind people said that they have been in that situation and they gave me two granola bars for the kids to have on the way back down. There are still good people in this world!!

Wooden boardwalk curving through the picture. On the left side of the boardwalk is a wooden partition. There are clumps of people spread out along the boardwalk, disappearing into the fog in the distance. — *The partitions are not great at providing privacy or shelter from the rain.*

Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River

Once you get to the river, pick your spot and enjoy. There are many different temperatures and depths in the river, so find one that feels good to you. There are piles of rocks spread around the river, making areas that are deeper where you can soak.

There was only one other family in the river with kids. I’m not sure if that is because all of the other families were better at reading the weather and decided to stay home or if it isn’t very common to take kids on this hike.

It was pretty foggy at this point and the rain was really starting to come down. The water was warm and everyone was fine while in the river, but I was worried about getting people out and getting them dry and warm for the trek back down to the parking lot.

Little Miss, Dallas, and Little Man relaxing in the warm water in a deep spot created by a piled line of rocks. — *Little Miss, Dallas, and Little Man enjoying the warm water in the river.*

We got the kids out of the river and dried off the best we could. They got dressed behind a towel I held up and then we put them in their rain suits. Then we started trudging back down the mountain. It was so wet and miserable, but the kids were troopers and didn’t complain (which is not normal for them).

The trail became muddy, but it wasn’t like the mud we are used to when hiking in Utah. The trail was made of pieces of volcanic rock, so it didn’t stick to your boots at all. The mud in Utah sticks to your boots and makes them twice as heavy.

Little Man, Little Miss, and Elizabeth pose for a picture. They are all soaked through their coats. The ground is wet and muddy and you can't see the mountains in the distance because of the fog. — *We look as cold and miserable as we felt. It was a rough hike out. The weather in Iceland is no joke.*

Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River Safety

Is it safe to take kids to soak in the Reykjadalur Hot Springs? Absolutely! Just make sure to follow these safety tips.

Stay on the Trail: The ground is fragile and you don’t know where the crust is extra thin. You do not want to accidentally fall into a hot pot. You also don’t want to damage any of the fragile moss or other plants around the trail.
Wear Layers: The weather in Iceland is unpredictable in Iceland (as is evidenced by our….adventure) so make sure to wear layers and take them off if you get hot.
Take Plenty of Water and Snacks: This is a moderate hike and you want to make sure that you take water and food.
Wear Appropriate Shoes: You may want to wear sandals or flip-flops because you are going to get wet, but make sure you wear supportive shoes for the hike.

Reykjadalur Sign that says "A Path to a warm natural bath." Below the title is a map of the hike. — *Sign as you begin the hike.*

What to Pack

With the distance for this hike being a little bit longer, make sure you take everything you will need with you because it is too long to head back to the car.

Water: It is a longer hike than you think, so make sure to take enough water. We usually like to take these water packs when we hike, but this time we opted for a regular backpack and a water bottle so we could fit the towels in.
Snacks: It took us 3 hours to do this adventure, so we were hungry and in need of a snack
Towel: We love these towels because they roll up small, do a decent job of drying you off, and are easy to carry.
Bag to put wet things in: I packed a bag to put the wet swimsuits in because I didn’t want everything else in the backpack to get wet. It didn’t matter for us because everything was wet in the end from the downpour anyway.
Layers: The weather can change quickly, so make sure you have multiple layers so you are prepared for whatever you encounter.

Dallas helping Little Miss cross a river on a path of stones. There is a horse corral in the background. — *Dallas and Little Miss crossing the river. There were so many different kinds of bridges on this hike.*

Is Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River Worth Visiting?

Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River was the highlight of our trip to Iceland for our kids, and Dallas and I thought it was a unique experience as well. The kids kept begging to go back and visit again every day for the rest of our trip, even though the hike back down was cold and miserable. They were amazed that the river could be warm.

The hike is long, but totally worth it if you don’t want to pay a lot of money to soak in one of the other hot springs in Iceland such as the Blue Lagoon or Sky Lagoon. Our kids were 6 and 9 when we did the hike and they did great with the distance.

Little Man starting to take off his rain gear. Little Miss and Dallas are up ahead on the trail where it turns into the boardwalk along the river. It is foggy and you can't see much in front of Dallas and Little Miss. — *Finally arriving at the warm part of the river. Little Man is already taking off his rain gear so he can get into the water.*

Recreate Responsibly

Please remember to recreate responsibly so that other people can enjoy it after you. Be respectful to the nature you come in contact with and stay on the designated trails (for your safety and the preservation of the nature around the trail). Take only pictures and memories, leave only footprints.

Explore Close By

Reykjavik
Raufarhólshellir Lava Tunnel
Reykjanesfólkvangur Nature Preserve (full of geothermal activity if you want to see more)
Thingvellir National Park
Brúarfoss Waterfall
Kerid Crater
Urriðafoss Waterfall
Seljalandsfoss Waterfall
Gljufrabui Waterfall
Íráfoss Waterfall
Westman Islands

FAQs

Are there dressing rooms at Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River?

No. There are multiple wooden partitions, but they are open on two sides.

How long is the Reykjadalur Hot Spring Hike?

The length of the Reykjadalur Hot Spring Hike is about 4 miles/6.5 km round-trip. The steepest part is at the beginning of the hike.

How much does it cost to visit Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River?

It is free to hike to the river and swim, but you do have to pay for parking. The parking is calculated by the length of time that you are there and is monitored by cameras.