Kerið

Kerið is a volcanic crater lake located in south central Iceland, on the popular tourist route known as the Golden Circle. It is one of several crater lakes in the area, created as the land moved over a localized hotspot, but it is the one that has the most visually recognizable caldera still intact. The caldera, like the other volcanic rock in the area, is composed of a red (rather than black) volcanic rock. The caldera itself is approximately 55 meters deep, 170 meters wide, and 270 meters across. Kerið’s caldera is the most recognizable because at approximately 3,000 years old, it is only half the age of most of the surrounding volcanic features.

While most of the crater is steep-walled with little vegetation, one wall is sloped more gently and blanketed with a deep moss, and can be descended fairly easily. The lake itself is fairly shallow (7-10 meters, depending on rainfall and other factors), but due to minerals from the soil, is an opaque and strikingly vivid aquamarine.